Hoka no Jiga (Other Selves)
by ChikaiItachi
Summary: This will be a novelization of the Meakashi-hen arc of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (the one where Shion kills everybody). Mostly true to the anime, with one notable exception: Shion has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her other selves are Haruka, Mari, and Jun. This is the eerie and psychologically insightful story of Shion Sonozaki.
1. Prologue: Akuma no Kazoku: Demon Family

**Author's Note: Future chapters will be shorter when possible. Sorry; I had a lot of material to cover for this prologue.**

(Shion's note: I have no intention of referring to my grandmother as "Grandma" in this memoir. The words denoting her miserable person include "Oryo", "The Hag", "The Monster" and "this woman".)

***Birth***

When I first became aware, around the time I started to speak, two facts were abundantly clear to me: I was a twin, and one of us twins would become the family head. Soon after, I learned the story of my birth from Oryo Sonozaki. Mom had been too upset to even mention it. When our clan heard that Akane Sonozaki was pregnant with twins, they were horrified. Some of them even encouraged mom to abort us. Losing a couple of babies would be easier for the family to handle, they said, than dealing with the trouble of raising two family heirs. Our family folklore said that twin heirs only caused conflict and division with the clan and the village.

About four hundred years ago, somebody came up with the tradition of _Yokunomaeni_. It means "before the bath." Whenever twin heirs were born, someone would strangle and kill one of the newborns before its first bath. (This, like many horrible Sonozaki customs, was never made public to outsiders.)

When Mion and I were born, our mom and dad refused to have either of us killed. Oryo insisted, and offered to dirty her hands herself. Dad was forced to physically restrain the Monster to keep her hands off our throats. Finally, she condescended to change her mind, saying that some traditions were no longer needed. In reality, she gave up trying to kill one of us because my parents, Akane and Hajime, threatened to go public with the story and also receive police protection.

Growing up with that story was bizarre, but I think being a twin is still the strangest experience of all, for me. The experience is different for everyone, I'm told. Before clear thought develops, many twins are confused, thinking that they are the same person. I remember feeling at first that Mion was another me. I was never sure if I was Mion or Shion. In my defense, I had at least some excuse for my identity confusion.

At age three, it was the duty of the eldest Sonozaki heir to be branded with a large tattoo paying homage to our "demon blood." The tattoo was the character oni, meaning demon or ogre. It was designed to look crooked and monstrous, like some chilopoda insect. I was the eldest by minutes, so the duty fell on me to receive this mark.

Barely understanding what was going on, my sister and I took action. We switched places. I acted as the youngest while Mion took the role of eldest. We never told anyone. Mion took my place and received the mark on her back. Such an act of kindness goes beyond words. However, being the "youngest" meant that I would now be treated as an inferior.

The preferential treatment of Mion finally made it clear to me we were entirely separate people. I felt frustrated at Mion for being the favorite, and for naturally having a better personality than me. I began to think Mion was the "real" daughter. I was a copy made by mistake. As I grew up, I would always struggle with the feeling that I was not a real person at all. On the other hand, I could never stay angry with Mion, because I was sure that being the heir came with its own suffering. As a child, I never made a fuss about being mistreated. But that didn't mean it was easy to bear, either.

***The Mark of the Demon***

My earliest memory is pretty typical of life with my family. I must have been about five when this happened. My parents, Akane and Hajime Sonozaki, had just moved into the large family estate to live with my grandfather Oryo Sonozaki, the current family head. I tried getting used to the new living arrangement, but one day, I caught Oryo throwing away some of my favorite baby dolls. As might be expected of a five year old girl, I screamed and cried. Mom had told me to always obey, so I didn't tell to her stop messing with my belongings; but seeing them thrown away was so sad for me that I completely broke down. Nothing could quiet my shrill, miserable sobs.

Oryo grabbed me by the shoulder with a grip strong enough to numb the nerve. The Hag began dragging me somewhere, and my knees burned with the friction against the stone flooring. When I screamed in pain, Oryo slapped me. Mion and mom came running after us, asking what was going on. Oryo explained she was taking me to "the cellar", which was actually the ancient Sonozaki Underground Torture Chamber. I'm sure this woman had no intention of truly mutilating me, but she at least wanted to punish my screaming by scaring the shit out of me. I screamed and Oryo slapped me again, making my ears ring. Mom protested, and Oryo slapped her too. She drew her hand back to give me a third blow.

Mion darted between me and the Monster and received the full force of the slap. My clever twin had figured out that crying was my crime, so she began sobbing as well. She told Oryo that both of us needed equal punishment. This did the trick of making the Hag grudgingly back off. She cared much more about Mion than she did about me. She stopped hitting us and sentenced us to chores. Intent on making sure our punishment was not equal, however, she assigned the hardest tasks to me and the easiest ones to my sister. Still, I worked without complaint, fearing for my safety.

At the end of the day, I snuggled up to my sister in our shared bed. I thanked her for protecting me. Even though she could have enjoyed being treated as the superior daughter, she instead worked hard to lessen the abuses directed at me. She had been doing that since we were born. She was obedient, polite, and sweet-natured, while also being something of a free spirit who made little stands against our grandmother in her own way. In my mind, Mion was perfect. It didn't seem fair that part of her name had "demon" in it. It didn't seem fair that she had to have the oni tattoo marking her forever.

Around age five, my perceptions about my sense of self began to change. Until then, I thought myself an inconvenient copy of Mion. But then something Oryo said began to shift my thoughts a little. When we took baths together, I tried not to talk about the tattoo on Mion's back. I wondered if she envied the smooth, clear skin of my back. One day, when Oryo was babysitting us, I thought hard about how Mion must be feeling. Quiet sobs escaped my mouth. A few lonely tears slowly trickled down my face.

"Stop that this instant," snapped the Monster. "You selfish brat. What do you have to cry about?"

"S-sorry for making noise," I apologized despondently. "It's just that Mion has that big mark on her back. I feel sorry for her. Mom said the word on her back was oni. But Mion is not an ogre or a demon. Right?"

"That's correct," rejoined Oryo, bothering to answer my question for once. "But it's tradition for the heir of the family to have that mark. It's to show that we have demon blood deep in our history. Demons once populated the village of Hinamizawa. Now, today's villagers aren't demonic, and even the Sonozaki family has lost most of it monster blood. But they say that every few generations, at least one person appears who transforms into a demon. To try to take responsibility for that, the family head wears the mark of the demon."

My family was mostly Shinto, so at that time, I believed what Oryo said about the demons. I also believed in our guardian deity Oyashiro. It wasn't a stretch of my imagination to believe the legends. That included the legend of a person transforming into a demon every few generations.

"You don't think mom, or our uncle, or Mion will ever turn into demons, right?" I asked anxiously.

"Of course not," Oryo said with a cruel glare. "It's already clear who the demon is. It's you, Shion Sonozaki. Why do you think I call you akuma when you are disrespectful? You were never meant to be born, Shion. You're the one they should have let me strangle. Mion is growing into a strong girl who cares about the rules. Your stubbornness and over-dramatic emotions reflect badly on your lovely sister. You are a demon purposed to bring destruction and defile the family head."

Oryo then looked me in my room and went to spend time with Mion. I sat there, numb with shock. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed the Hag had been calling me a demon. She wouldn't stop now, either. That was when I began to think: not only am I an inconvenient copy of Shion, but I also might not be human. Didn't it make sense that I could be a demon unconsciously undermining my perfect sister? I would have nightmares about it through much of my childhood. Nobody took it seriously when I wept, asking them to please not call me a demon anymore. They kept to their traditions. That's the only thing at which the Sonozaki family excels.

***Oryo the Monster***

My family moved away from the main estate to a house in the better part of Okinomia. I would go to elementary school there, while Mion would be driven to Hinamizawa each day to a separate school. According to The Hag, Hinamizawa should not know about my existence if it could be helped. After all, Mion was the real Sonozaki girl, and I was just a demon who copied her appearance. (Not that I blamed Mion—she was my only comfort in those days. We played a lot every day when she returned from the village.) This arrangement still wasn't enough to satisfy Oryo, though. After two years, she still thought there was danger of my existence being discovered by Hinamizawa. So she ordered my parents to send me to boarding school.

They started sending me away when I was eight. I never made any friends at school because I was never taught how to interact with people, and I messed things up. The supervisors at my dorm targeted me, because I would not argue, and often kept me locked in my room except for class. They didn't feed any of the girls enough, and many of grew sick and frail as we existed in a state of near-starvation. Despite our conditions, when we didn't make excellent grades, we were ridiculed and fiercely bullied by teachers and students alike. Oryo chose the schools I went to, and so I told her they were terribly strict and that they mistreated me. She refused to give my concerns any thought; she wanted me to experience suffering and strife. I realized that even those abusive religious academies were safer than being at home. However, as much as I despised my cruel grandmother and the cowards around her who would not stand up against her severe abuse, I couldn't stay at school forever. I would still have to return home during the breaks when school closed.

I went through a rebellious stage around ages and eight and nine. I found out about my mom and dad's history and how cruel Oryo had been to them. Akane Sonozaki usually followed the traditions expected of her. In some cases, she loved the traditions; learning Kenjutsu was a must for every Sonozaki leader, male or female, and Akane enjoyed it. There was one point in her life, however, when Akane rejected tradition and actually did what was best for herself. She did enter an arranged marriage. She fell in love someone from outside Hinamazawa— Hajime Ando, the leader of a gang of yakuza. Akane married Hajime, but Oryo refused to recognize or approve of their union.

The arguing, bickering, and yelling that ensued clouded the women's memories enough that they could not remember who suggested the kendo bout. Either way, they were both amiable to settling the matter with a sword fight. Though the match was fierce, Akane's younger mind and greater agility eventually ensured her victory. All her life, Akane had lived under her mother's cruel thumb. Still, she cared enough about the village to want to lead it someday, so she endeavored to follow the many rules and customs of the depraved family. Beating Oryo in a sword fight was Akane's first victory as a woman fighting for her rights. Unfortunately, she would only end up falling harder, into more coercive control, as a result.

Oryo was a woman who seldom admitted when she had lost. She held the power to make decisions for all of her relatives and most of Hinamizawa village. So, showing her true colors as an incurable Monster, Oryo announced to everyone that her daughter was no longer approved to be the next head of the Sonozaki family. The right of headship would pass to Akane's children. In the meantime, Oryo would continue as family head. In addition, the hag demanded that my mother should undergo a painful ritual as a way to atone for the "insult" of beating her mother in a fair battle. Mom never told me what that ritual involved, but she is missing one of her fingernails, and she still looks disturbed if I ask about it.

The family head continued showing cruelty to her daughter, my mom. She insisted on supervising the birth of me and Mion, as well as choosing our names. She then told Akane that she would be withdrawing her financial and emotional support, leaving her to raise twin daughters on her own. Oryo promised to extend support again if Akane agreed to submit to her, follow the rules, and attend council meetings. Hajime soon ran into work trouble, and couldn't make enough money to comfortably support a wife and two daughters. They were going to lose their house. And so, with her will and heart both broken, Akane agreed to Oryo's selfish demands. Oryo agreed—or rather forced—Akane and Hajime to live with her.

Hearing this story, I felt empathy and love for my mom, because she had stood up for herself. And though she started acting as Oryo's ragdoll once again, I couldn't justifiably be angry with her; circumstances left her no choice but to crawl back to her mother. My anger, I decided, should rightfully be aimed at Oryo; everyone else was a victim. Thus, I stopped showing respect to the Monster and refused to eat in the same room as such a beast. In return, Oryo began abusing me again every time my parents made me come alone to visit the old hag.

She insulted me, belittled me, withheld any love or nurturing, slapped me, and beat me, sometimes gagging my mouth or tying me up to prevent me from yelling or escaping. She would always come up with some lie about how I had misbehaved or disrespected a tradition. My mother probably would have stopped this abuse if she knew of it, but she believed the lie that Oryo wanted to spend time alone with me to give me supplement school lessens. I couldn't bear to tell Mion, so I hid my bruises from her. (It felt strange to hide anything from Mion, since we communicated with letters while I was at school, telling each other everything.)

It was around this time that I first started to notice and make use of one of my other selves. When I was in pain, when I was helpless, when I was losing my mind… another part of me came out. She was me, and yet not me. She was a person who could not feel physical or emotional pain. When she took over, I became able to tolerate Oryo's abuse—the systemic belittling as well as the beatings. As someone who could not feel pain, this other self had an instinctual desire to understand pain, and had no problems inflicting it on others. When were alone, I talked back to the old hag. I said terrible things to her. Before she could tie me up, I'd try to punch her or trip her. This aggression only caused Oryo to do even crueler things, but at the same time, it saved me from experiencing the true horrors she committed.

***The Demon Goes to Sleep***

Eventually, the severe abuse became less and less frequent. Perhaps Oryo thought that beating an eleven year old girl was a little much. She visited us less, and when my mother visited her, she started giving me the option of staying home. The continued emotional abuse was neither better nor worse than being beaten, but at least I wouldn't have to worry about bruises anjymore, or waking up in the night in pain. Besides bullying, hunger, and isolation at school, the immediate threats to my safety had been neutralized. My focus shifted.

Instead of dreading and fearing Oryo, I began to dread myself. For some reason, at random times, my other self would come out. I'm only slightly aware of myself when I've changed. I'm unable to do anything but watch from a dreamlike state. The other me bullied students, betrayed her word, stole food, and started fights— fights in which she could feel no pain. It was rare for me to remember any of this on my own; I would hear the stories from classmates and teachers, and slowly start to recall. Being fairly weak and having a strong sense of justice, I couldn't imagine myself starting fights or bullying others. This unfeeling person inside of me is so different from my true self that I call her Haruka. It means "distance," because she's distant from pain, conscience, and perhaps reality.

I began to think Haruka was proof of my imagined demonic possession. I truly must be a demon, I thought. I did everything I could to try to cure myself and find peace of mind. I studied ancient documents about demons. I had three different exorcists try to remove my "demon." One of the "exorcisms" was actually a purification ritual by a Shinto Priest and a Miko. I prayed for hours to both Oyashiro and the Christian God that my school believed in. I even took up Buddhist meditation, striving for their so-called "Enlightment." In the end, none of those things gave me peace or quieted "the demon within." I didn't find relief until I wrote to Mion about my fears.

"You don't have to worry about being a demon," part of her letter said. "The stories of oni blood in our family are only myths. I know our family has traditionally been Shinto, but all across the country, more and more people are departing from their traditions. People don't need spirits. A lot of people don't worship any gods at all. It's because we have so much knowledge now. And because, thanks to education, we can use reason. There's no need to believe in stories that don't make sense. Yoma, Oni, Akuma, they're all fictional. Most spirits and gods are fictional, too."

I was shocked to see these letters written by Mion, the one who respected and upheld the Sonozaki family. Quickly, though, I saw her explanation written below. "I said that people don't need spirits. But that depends on the people. Whether or not gods and demons are real, many people find comfort and joy in worshiping them and the traditions surrounding them. Since there's no way to absolutely be sure, I think it's fine for someone to believe in gods or the supernatural. Our village needs Oyashiro. I actually do believe in Oyashiro, you know. I think she was a person who protected the village long ago, and part of her soul still clings to Hinamizawa. The Oyashiro whose presence I have felt is kind and benevolent. So, if anyone claims that cruel traditions and demon stories are related to Oyashiro, they are definitely wrong."

That was ultimately the letter that changed the course of my preteen and early teenage years. Well, it was a combination of the letter and the fact that I started middle school soon after. This academy was still strict as hell, but it fed the students, and I found my head getting clearer. I started reading books and articles by modern thinkers and atheists. I learned about logical arguments and logical fallacies, and developed the sense not to believe anything without using some critical thinking skills. At the same time, I kept busy with schoolwork.

The instances of Haruka coming out became less and less frequent. I stopped believing in gods and in demons, though I respected my sister's devotion to Oyashiro. Soon, Haruka disappeared altogether. I forgot about her like she had been a bad dream. I made a few friends in middle school, and continued writing long letters to Mion. For a few years, I lived as a normal girl. Things did not go wrong again until I was sixteen. That was the year my other self—and selves—would reawaken.


	2. Nazono Shibou: Mysterious Deaths

***Escape***

When I was fifteen, not too long after the spring term started, I ran away from the St. Lucia's Boarding School, where I had been trapped since the start of high school. I can't say if there was a single triggering event or not; for the past four years, I had been slowly building my self-confidence and a positive sense of identity. I had always been an individualist, with no particular desire to lead, but a very particular aversion to being led by others. Tradition and rules were not as important to me as self-expression and freedom. The good of the greater whole could be, at times, equally or less important than the good of the individual. In terms of oppression, St. Lucia was almost as bad as living at home.

So, I finally decided that enough was enough. I wasn't going to keep attending the schools that the old Hag chose. In fact, maybe I wouldn't attend school at all. I certainly wasn't going to stay away from my own house just because Oryo didn't want to have to see me. I had already decided to run away, when I received a letter from Mion that encouraged me further. She said she and our parents had moved back into the main estate in Hinamizawa, so that Mion could learn village leadership from Oryo. My parents' smaller house in Okinomiya had yet been offered for sale. It should still be empty for a while, I figured. I might even find a way to pay some rent on it.

The escape was only possible thanks to my dear partner-in-crime. Good old Tatsuyoshi Kasai; in my mind, he was the absolute coolest of all the armed agents hired by the Sonozaki family. What's more, he treats me like I'm his own bratty little sister. Although he claims loyalty to Oryo, Kasai disagrees with some of her decisions, and helps me out behind the scenes. He took to protecting me and Mion when we moved out of Oryo's estate and into the Okinomiya house with our parents. As we grew, however, it became clear that Kasai was much more interested in protecting me than Mion. You see, Mion had a whole host of bodyguards and servants who followed her every whim, but none of them acknowledged me. Kasai argued and convinced Oryo that I needed at least one capable agent. Thus, Kasai became my bodyguard—and something like my older brother, too. Kasai and I planned the escape together over a secure phone line.

(Well, on second thought, I won't give Kasai ALL of the credit for helping me achieve freedom. I knew that sneaking out at night would involve a lot of tough physical feats. Generally, I was more delicate than Mion, who enjoyed sports. I had refused to learn kenjutsu too, and Oryo let it fly because, after all, only the heir had to know the art. In preparation for my escape, therefore, I worked hard in PE, and hired a personal women's trainer for strength-building and development of agility. I also joined the rock-climbing club, and practiced climbing trees whenever I could.)

The chosen night came at last. I climbed from my dorm hall through the window, down an oak tree, and out of the academy. Then, by climbing up a smaller tree on the edge of the lawn, I reached the top of the old stone wall surrounding St Lucia's girls' dorm. From there, I jumped a full twelve feet down onto the road below. Kasai's black car was waiting there, just as we had discussed. The headlights came on as soon as he saw me. He pulled up to me and rolled down the window.

"Excellent work, Miss Shion," he said, wearing his dark suit and sunglasses as usual, even at night.

"Ah, it's been a while since I tasted freedom," I sighed happily, getting into the passenger seat.

The car took off at a fast but steady speed. Kasai stayed quiet as usual. I asked after my sister, and the agent told me she had settled in with Oryo very well. To be honest, this worried me. I wondered if, in my absence, Mion had become more like Oryo. Would she be happy to see me? Would she agree to my plan to keep my identity hidden? I drifted off in thought.

"If you stay in Okinomiya," Kasai said at last, "you will likely be seen by a relative. The main family will find out eventually."

The implication was that Oryo would find out. She would probably try to punish me. But I laughed, saying that I wasn't afraid of the "shitstorm" to come. I was no longer the meek little girl that I used to be. I refused to let Oryo have her way. The most I would do for her was conceal my presence, so at least she didn't have to trouble her ugly head thinking of me.

To my surprise, Kasai brought me to a tall apartment building in a well-populated part of Okinomiya. The room in which we stayed was leased under his name, and used instead of a hotel every time he had business in the city. In fact, he had often stayed there on his way back from visiting me at St. Lucia's.

Kasai made breakfast for me the next day and told me I could stay at this apartment. I thanked him and disclosed my plan to get a part-time job to pay the rent myself. When the agent began to protest, I assured him that I already had a plan for concealing my presence from the main family. The plan would be to work in Hinamizawa and, when anyone asked, I would claim that I was Mion. (Mion and I had often pretended to be each other in the past, to the point where even we were not entirely sure who was who.)

This plan would only work if Mion played along, and stayed in close contact with me. I worried over whether she would help me. So I decided to break the tension and call right away. Mion picked up the phone and I heard her give a cheery good morning. She asked if I was Kasai, and for a moment, I stayed silent. Then I decided to break the news using some humor.

"Do you know… who I am?" I asked in a deep, grim, and menacing voice.

Recognizing my voice at once, Mion let out a small gasp. "Oh my god," she whispered. "Did you run away from school?"

I dropped the act and broke into laughter. This had become my way of saying that I feared nothing.

"There was no way I was going to stay at such a stiff place," I stated.

"You finally escaped?!" Mion sounded happy. "Awesome!"

She laughed, and I joined in. I felt genuinely pleased that she still treated me like her dear sister. Then we started chattering, like—well—like sisters that hadn't heard each other's voices for a few months. In the end, she agreed to my plan. I was sure Mion was talking her heart out in perfect sincerity. As for me, though, I gave replies of forced happiness, because I could only half-focus. Listening to Mion brought back a lot of memories. If it wasn't for the customs of the Sonozaki family, we would be a couple of normal, close twin siblings. As things were, we had to live apart, leading completely different lives. That saddened me. It also depressed me to think how our parents had gone along with this lifestyle without protest. _So_ many people just went along with Oryo, living in fear of her, or in some cases agreeing with her.

Of course, there were some people who didn't blindly follow the Hag. The Kimiyoshi and Furude families possessed as much power in the village as the Sonozaki family. They often agreed with and supported the Sonozaki house, but now and then veered away from it completely. (Less than three years ago, for example, the Furude Shrine sheltered a family which was considered an enemy to the Sonozakis and Kimiyoshis.) A small fraction of the Hinamizawa populace was reluctant to follow orders from Oryo, and an even smaller fraction despised her. The police, according to Mion, did not seem to dislike the Sonozaki house, but they refused to recognize its authority or show it any undue respect. I didn't know them yet, but the Hojo family was also one of the few families that didn't grovel in front of Oryo.

Besides those villagers, there were several relatives of mine who took a stand against the Monster concerning smaller issues. One of those people was my uncle Yoshiro. He rarely stayed on Oryo's good side. The man had always thought it unfair to condemn me to live apart from the rest of the family. He also owned a small restaurant called Angel Mort, which had never been approved by Oryo.

***Oyashiro's Curse***

I decided to seek help from Yoshiro. The next day, I came and explained my situation, telling him I needed to find a job right away. I explained my plan about pretending to be Mion if asked. He agreed to hire me at Angel Mort. Waitressing at a maid café may not be considered ladylike by the uptight aunties of last generation, but to me, it was a chance to have more freedom with my body.

"It must have been really rough," Yoshiro said, exhaling a beam of wispy cigarillo smoke. "I mean, being trapped in that place for almost two years. I was against it, but…"

"If were you were against it, why didn't you come to help me?" That was what I wanted to ask. But I remembered that now he was definitely helping me, and, well, better late than never. "It's fine," I told him. "Oryo Sonozaki made up her mind, so there was no helping it, right?"

Yoshiro had enough grace to still look guilty. "Anyway, I'll give you my full cooperation," he said, rubbing the back of his head ruefully. "You can start working here, and you'll have nothing to worry about."

" _Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu_ ," I said sincerely, bowing my head. "So, I haven't visited Hinamizawa since my fourteenth birthday. Has anything big happened in the last two years?"

This was my chance to acquire some information on a subject of interest. Hinamizawa was a tiny country town, and perhaps it was in my country blood to want to know its events and happenings. I was especially interested Hinamzawa's murder mystery, since I dreamed of someday being a cop or detective. Statistically speaking, reported violent crime should be low or nonexistent in a sparsely populating Japanese village. Despite that, a construction worker had been brutally murdered and dismembered. It happened three years ago in June 1979. The culprit had never been found, and the people took to calling the crime "Oyashiro's Curse" because the construction worker was an enemy of the village. (And hence, an enemy of the village's god.) Mysterious deaths continued afterward, too. A man and his wife fell off a cliff into the river and died in 1980. Both years' incidents happened on the night of our festival, Watanagashi. No explanation was discovered. I wanted answers.

"No, nothing much has really happened," Yoshiro shrugged, taking another puff.

It was surprising to hear from a local man, usually bursting with gossip, that "nothing" had happened. I had expected one of the villagers to be arrested and found guilty for the murder by now. I had good reason for suspecting a villager rather than an outsider. It was because of the dam. Four or five years ago, the government planned to build a dam that would force the residents of several small villages, including Hinamizawa, to relocate. Their historic homes would be flooded. Hinamizawa fought back, and after intense lobbying and petitioning, they won the case. The dam construction was canceled, and everything should have ended there. But an unknown someone came and hacked a dam construction worker to pieces on July 17th, the Watanagashi. Actually, it wasn't just any construction worker; it was the foreman of the construction site. Anyone in the village who had opposed the dam, I reasoned, would at least have motive for that horrible crime. So I pushed for information.

"What about 'The Curse of Oyashiro'?" I inquired, sipping at my coffee.

"You mean the crime where the foreman was cut up?" Yoshiro killed the last of the cigar on his white-marble ashtray. "No, the perpetrator still hasn't been caught. No news about the next year, either."

"You mean when the dam supporters fell to their deaths," I said. I thought it deserved to be pointed out that the couple who died in 1981 also happened to have been supporters of the dam project. At the time, the name Hojo meant nothing to me, but… "Hojo," I said out loud. "That was the name of the couple, right? And isn't it true that they died on June 15th, the night of Watanagashi? 'It's a curse,' or that's what people say about it."

Yoshiro nodded, confirming what I'd heard. Then he leaned forward as if say something important.

"There was another case after you started high school," the man admitted. "It happened June 21st, 1981, the night of Watanagashi."

I couldn't hide my surprise. "Another one?! Then… this has happened three years in a row?"

"I'm afraid that's correct. The head priest of the Furude Shrine died. From what I heard, he died from some unknown illness. And his wife jumped into Onigafuji Swamp the same night and drowned herself."

Disturbed, I tried to change the subject. I finished my coffee, again thanking Yoshiro for his help. He described my work duties and gave me a uniform while smoking another cigar. Soon, the time came for us to go our separate ways.

I left Angel Mort with a strange feeling like a rock in my gut. It was fear: the fear that someone in this town was organizing these mysterious deaths. I decided that the only way to ease my mind was to start researching this matter and maybe even contribute to the police investigation, if there was still one underway. I had no significant hobbies and no friends with whom to spend the summer, so I might as well engage in my detective fantasies for a while. Besides, I needed something to focus on besides learning how to please customers at Angel Mort. My strong sense of justice spurred me on, and I decided that May 1982 was going to be the beginning of my best summer yet.

***Meeting Mion***

Mion and I came up with a way to meet in public. We would meet at the public library. We would sit at two separate tables with our chairs back-to-back, whispering, so that nobody suspected we were meeting. I would style my hair differently from Mion, as well as wearing a hat (a cute blue cap) to hide my eyes, in case we were seen together. We dressed in identical outfits, though, so that either of us could claim to be Mion if either of us was seen without the other. We only risked meeting this way on occasions where one of us had something important to talk about.

This time, I requested the meeting. I wanted to talk about the series of mysterious deaths. In particular, I wanted to know more about last summer's death. I hoped it would disprove my theory that some of the villagers were organizing these deaths against perceived enemies. When we met at the library that Sunday May 16th, I asked Mion if Priest Furude had really died from an unknown illness.

"Yeah, it's true he died suddenly," Mion said, pretending to read a book about gardening. "But calling it an unknown illness is an exaggeration. I think it was one of those sudden heart failures that can happen if you get overworked."

Pretending to read a mystery novel, I turned my head slightly so my low voice would reach my sister. "Even if the illness isn't strange, it's still weird that he happened to die on the night of the festival. That's three years in a row where someone has suddenly died on Watanagashi. And all of the victims were easy targets for Oyashiro's Curse. Wasn't the head Priest hated by the anti-dam committee?"

Mion nodded. "He publicly defended the Hojo family. You know about them, right? Because they accepted the dam project, the Hojos were tormented, and labeled as traitors by most of the village." (She briefly described an occasion when a group of dam protesters threw rocks at the young Hojo couple just for showing up in the center of town.) "Everyone pointed their fingers at the Hojo family in contempt. The head Priest was the only one who didn't see them as enemies."

"But didn't he have the power and backing to get away with that?" I asked. "He's a Furude, one of the Three Great Families of Hinamizawa."

Shaking her head, Mion explained, "Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi leaders used the Hojo family as their scapegoat to unite the villagers in their anti-dam cause. Not only was the old man a Furude—he was also Priest of the Shrine to Oyashiro. He was Hinamizawa's religious leader. He should have been a symbol of the town's dam protest. Accepting the treachery of the Hojos… it caused a bitter feud between the Three Families."

"I can't believe the head families were so bullheaded," I said, cursing my heritage. "It should be obvious that the Priest was the mature one because he maintained neutrality."

Lowering her book, Mion briefly turned toward me. "If Furude was really mature," she said with one eyebrow raised in disapproval, "then he would have followed along with everybody and cooperated. As a member of one of the Three Families, he should have set an example for Hinamizawa. Can you really call him mature when he just screwed around causing conflict for everybody? I don't get him at all."

My insides jumped when I heard that, and I turned back to my book before responding. " _Onee_ , you're suddenly starting to sound like the head of the village. I guess you've been taught to be a leader."

"It's nothing like that," Shion said, giving a happy-but-modest laugh, as if she actually thought I had complimented her. "I've just been training to take over for Grandma one day. You can do it, you know. You could pretend to me on some days and learn some lessons from Grandma firsthand."

I laughed to hide the fear that suggestion made me feel. "I wouldn't even want to try that. Babysitting the old Hag is your responsibility, Mion. Just don't overwork yourself. Okay?"

Closing up my mystery novel, I stood up to leave. I paused to smile at Shion, but she told me to wait a second. She was looking up at me with her sincere blue-green eyes, a furrow of worry between her thin eyebrows. Clearly, she had caught on that I might not have been complimenting her… that I might be hurt and angry on the inside. She stared into my eyes sympathetically, struggling for words.

"Listen, _Onee_ ," I said, keeping on a false face of friendly confidence. "I don't blame you for anything that happened to me. There's no reason for you to feel ashamed. Don't worry!" I clenched my fist and flexed my arm in a childish show of bravado. "You do your best, Mion! I'll do my best as Shion, too."

I nudged her forehead affectionately, and Mion smiled, "Thank you, Shion."


	3. Hatsukoi: First Love

**3: Hatsukoi: First Love**

***Shopping Trip***

On the night of the 28th of May, I received troublesome news from Mion. Apparently, one of the agents who followed her around on the weekend had seen her in the library with me. Mion had begged him not to tell anyone, but the loyal Sonozaki refused. It was ten at night and I had just finished showering when my twin called me. I listened to the news through the phone in my new bedroom, where I relaxed on the western-style bed.

"Grandma is furious!" Mion exclaimed in a frightened voice. "She's told everyone to bring you to her when they see you!"

"Ooh, how scary," I said in a sarcastic, feminine tone. "Let me know if you hear anything else. If things get really bad, I can always just leave town."

Honestly, I didn't care. There was the nothing the Hag could do to me that would make me bow to her. I could fight back now. I had outgrown my fear of her. Or that's what I thought anyway, as I dried the bathwater off my smooth legs. Even if I left town, I could just wait until I was eighteen, return to Hinamizawa, and as an adult, get police protection from my threatening family members.

Mion made up for my carelessness with her eternal sincerity. "It's not fair," she said genuinely. "It's not fair to make you alone live like this, Shion."

As if she would take a stand to stop it, though, I thought. "Thanks for your concern," was all I said.

"Just tell me whenever you want to go outside. I'll keep helping. You can be Mion whenever you want."

I was almost at the point where I didn't think it would do much good to keep up the act of pretending to be my sister in public. It involved coordinating our schedules, which meant Mion was on the phone with me a lot, and the family would probably have gotten a clue by now. They weren't going to be fooled by my clever trick much longer. On the other hand, going out as Mion one more time might not help my position, but it also wouldn't hurt anything. I wanted to pick up some groceries tomorrow, since I was still just settling in to Kasai's spare apartment.

"Your help would be great," I told Mion cheerfully. "I'm probably going to lay low for a while, but I'll need to go out and get some supplies first."

My generous sister agreed to let me play her for the day. She would go to school and then rush back home to hide at the main estate. I would dress identically to her and appear in the afternoon to go shopping at the main market in Hinamizawa. By sunset, I would have all my groceries and be on my way home. Then Mion could report to the Hag that she had been in town all afternoon. It seemed like a perfect plan.

Well, beautiful plans go wrong because of the tiniest annoyances. Everything was fine until I staggered outside the grocery store trying to carry four or five very heavy bags at once. I passed by a line of motorcycles that were illegally parked right in front of the store. One of my bags caught on the extended exhaust pipe of a bike, and it ripped open, spilling food and spices all over the pavement.

Screaming some very unladylike slang, I took my free hand and punched the side of one of the bikes. It fell. The whole line of them fell. One motorcycle knocked over the next, which knocked over the next, and suddenly I realized I was in trouble.

Before I knew what was happening, the three motorcyclists appeared in a fit of heavily accented cursing and swearing. One of them grabbed my shoulder and dragged me a few yards away to a small vacant lot between two houses. The other two followed. I shook their hands off me and backed up against one of the walls, apologizing profusely and trying my best to understand what the angered men were saying. They had dull-looking faces, ridiculous haircuts styled with grease, and they wore entirely black outfits. They were trying so hard to push the "biker thug" image that I just wanted to laugh at them. Nevertheless, they were all a lot taller and heavier than me, and surrounding me as if to attack.

I honestly couldn't understand them, but they looked threatening. Behind my back, I pulled out my Taser. This handy weapon had been picked off of one of St. Lucia's security guards shortly before my escape. I felt better having it with me, but I hesitated, wondering if the bikers really deserved the high voltage I planned to give them. It was at that moment when someone came along and changed my life.

"Oy!" shouted a boy, standing on the street at the edge of the narrow vacant lot. "Stop it!"

***Chance Meeting***

The first thing I noticed about the boy were his eyes. They were a unique shade of deep brownish-red that almost looked purple in the right light. Though his face was gentle, almost feminine, the expression in his eyes was absolutely ferocious. I could tell he was the kind of boy whose will could not be broken, who could survive anything. Even though his voice hadn't changed yet, he spoke as boldly as a young warrior when he commanded the three bikers to stop harassing me.

Among shouts of "Hoo te fuku're yu", the three motorcyclists approached the golden-haired boy. The leader among them stopped negotiations abruptly and punched the poor kid down. He tumbled into a sitting position against an old wooden crate, but he was only dazed for a brief second. Suddenly he looked up, and I swear that something almost nonhuman gleamed in the boy's eyes. It was the rage of a wild animal. The three men were so surprised that they paused their advance.

"Over here, officer!" another voice called.

An old man had seen the commotion and called a cop. Aforesaid cop was now running down the alley toward us, armed and ready to subdue the bikers. The men shouted a few more curses, took a roundabout way back to their bikes, and sped off. The police officer could have pursued them, but apparently he thought it was enough to give the brash bikers a good scare. I watched the motorcycles disappear into a cloud of dust, before turning my attention back to the golden-haired boy, now staggering to his feet.

"Um, excuse me," I stammered. "Um, thank—"

The boy gave a cheerful smile. "Are you alright, Mion?"

Three thoughts struck me one after the other in such rapid succession that they were almost indistinguishable. First came the realization that this boy of about my age was the most beautiful person I had ever beheld. Golden hair like an angel. Taller than average for his age. A body lithe and graceful to make up for the lack of packed muscles. A gentle face like that of a deer, but one that could turn into the face of a wolverine when his eyes came alive. Smooth skin, masculine haircut. He was perfect. The second thing that hit me was the realization that the boy had addressed me as Mion. So, he was Mion's friend, and he saved because he thought I was my sister, rather than altruistically rushing in to rescue a pretty stranger. This boy had no idea who I was, and I had no way of knowing if it was safe to blow my cover and explain. Sadness. Jealousy. The third thought, however, was that names don't matter. I could pretend to be Mion and still talk to this boy. I might even get to flirt with him. Being Mion actually sounded better than being a stranger.

"Y-yes, I'm fine," I told the boy.

"I'm glad you're safe," the angel said, and he reached out his hand toward my head.

Instinctively, I flinched. My mind recalled a thousand memories of being hit in the face and head by Oryo, by teachers, and by bullies at school. To my surprise, however, the boy simply placed his hand on my head and ruffled my hair briefly before pulling back.

I felt as girlishly flustered as if I had been kissed. Something about this kid—even his smallest gesture—made me feel mesmerized and completely unnerved at the same time. Stammering, I tried to make conversation with him while picking up my fallen groceries. But I was at a complete loss for words. Just being around him, my heart thundered and blood rushed to my cheeks and ears. I didn't even have the presence of mind—or the courage—to ask his name, before Kasai showed up in his black car. Apparently, I was taking too long, and he got worried. I took up my groceries, bowed and thanked the boy again, and hurried into the car.

As soon as I returned to my apartment, I called up Mion, demanding to know that boy's identity.

"Oh, that's Satoshi-kun," Mion informed me calmly. "Based on your description and that head-patting habit of his, it's got to be him."

I stretched out on the white sheets of my bed, one arm holding up the phone, the other pillowing my head. I enjoyed the sound of the boy's name. "Satoshi-kun, is it?" I mused girlishly.

"He's the type who daydreams a lot," Mion continued with just the slightest suggestion of annoyance. "His head is always in the clouds. His sister is much more dependable. That's right, he has a little sister. Her name is Satoko. She's been having a rough time because of stuff, though… you see, Satoshi is the son of the Hojo couple."

Hojo? The couple who were ostracized by the town for supporting the dam? The couple who had mysteriously fallen to their deaths on Watanagashi 1981? That would make Satoshi an orphan. And he had a little sister. I couldn't imagine how painful his life must be, though my own had hardly been better. His parents died, but they had probably died loving their children. My parents refused to nurture me and sent me away, and they did so because they didn't want to have to see me or deal with me at all. I felt a certain level of empathy for Satoshi.

"After their parents died," Mion continued, "they were adopted by their aunt and uncle. For about a year now, things have been pretty bad between Satoko and her aunt."

I jumped to the first conclusion that came to mind. "Is she being abused by her aunt?!"

Mion avoided the question. "Lately, Satoko is just… very tired. I'm sure the aunt and uncle were despised by the town for being related to the Hojo couple. Then, getting the Hojos' two kids practically forced on them… they earned the village's hatred. Satoko is tired of all this."

Did that mean Satoshi was very unhappy? I asked.

"Eh?" said Mion. "I really don't know one way or the other. He's always zoned out, so I can't tell."

Satoshi and I had more in common than I thought. We were both either unknown or hated by the village, and we were both stuck in situations we could not escape. On top of everything he must be going through, Satoshi had to take care of Satoko. I couldn't help wondering if he was stressing himself out with with it. Then I remembered how kind Satoshi had looked when he patted my head. He must be the ideal older brother, and he must have learned to treat girls well because he had Satoko. I was sure he was protecting his sister, just as he had protected me from the bikers. He took pride in it.

"Hey, _Onee_ ," I half-said, half-sighed. "Tell me more about Satoshi-kun, won't you?"

From that day on, I became obsessed with Satoshi. I wanted to know every little thing about him. I imagined him during the day time, and dreamed about him during the night time. At least temporarily, I lost interest in playing detective with the mysteries of Hinamizawa. When Mion realized how smitten I was, she agreed to let me start going to school as her about once a week. It would give me the chance to talk to Satoshi, even if he wouldn't know my real identity.

The school in Hinamizawa is tiny, understaffed, and uncomfortable, but because Satoshi was there, I loved it. Kids from all grade levels worked in the same large classroom, but because Satoshi was there, I put up with the noisiness of the younger kids. None of the country bumpkins there were up to my level of education, but because Satoshi was there, I stifled my arrogant frustration. The one-on-one time I got with Satoshi was short—ten minutes between class and his baseball practice—but because it was Satoshi, anything was good enough. I treasured our every short conversation, his every phrase, every word from his lips. Every time Kasai came to check on me, I would be journaling about Satoshi, or sketching a portrait of his face, or trying to learn the rules of baseball so I could follow at practice.

"Aren't you into this kid a little _too_ much?" Kasai asked one evening.

"No way," I assured myself. "This is what first love is like for every girl. It's completely natural."

In reality, my habit of obsessing over people and interests is not natural at all. I tend to think in black and white; maybe that's related to my multiple personality problem, maybe it's a result of growing up in a house where being wrong got you beaten, or maybe it's just the way I'm programmed to think. My black and white thinking meant that people are either "good" or "bad." When it comes to people, I must either hate their guts or love them more than life itself. My dad used to say, "You would take a bullet to save Mion, then pull that same bullet out and shoot your grandma in the head." That's right; that's how I think. My hatred for certain people can be frightening, but my love for those dear to me is incalculably vast. So when I say I had a crush on Satoshi, it meant that I was already willing to sell my soul for him. It's a terrible curse to be able to feel so deeply.

***Baseball Practice***

On June 6th, the boys (and a couple of girls) in the baseball club divided into two teams for a match. This was a chance for Satoshi to show off his skills to Coach Irie, who might be able to hook him up with a better team. Satoshi invited me to the mock-game, and I helped out by bringing water and snacks to everyone on the bench. Irie, a man in his early thirties, sat on the bench and thanked me for the gift. He smiled at me through his glasses and shaggy hair. He was a laidback fellow, so we started chatting and joking, until it was Satoshi's turn to bat. He hit a home run on the first pitch.

"Amazing!" I said. "Even with my limited understanding, Satoshi is really good, isn't he?"

"He is," replied the Coach. "As long as he concentrates, he can bat .300. His mental state is delicate, though. He needs a lot of exercise to take his mind off home for just a little while. Otherwise, he won't pull through. Satoshi, you see, is the type who bottles in all his emotions. His health has been suffering for it, lately."

"Is it because the town hates him?" I asked in concern.

Irie shook his head. "No, the problem is his aunt. She emotionally abuses Satoko, and she's been getting worse about it. I'm sure it's really difficult for Satoshi to protect his sister. Recently, he's been telling me he wants to quit the team. He says it's because he's so tired all the time. I think the real reason is that he wants to spend more time around Satoko."

Of course. This was all starting to make sense now. Satoshi sounded dashing when he spoke confidently, and he looked adorable when he smiled, but he rarely took on either expression. The vast majority of the time, Satoshi always looked worried. Something was deeply troubling him, making him suffer. Sometimes, when he daydreamed in class, he looked like he might have been holding back tears. And yet I knew that this boy could not be broken—he coped with his parents' deaths, he stayed active in school, and he wasn't afraid of approaching three biker thugs who were all older and stronger than him. Neither bullying nor abuse, nor pain purposed to sting him, could ever break Satoshi's will. His only weakness, therefore, was pain and abuse directed at someone close to him. Satoko was treated cruelly, and Satoshi couldn't stand it. He could not stand the pain of another person. He couldn't stand not being able to give Satoko constant protection. And it was breaking him.

With my feelings in a jumble, I looked back at the baseball field. Satoshi ran as fast as he could to reach the next base before the ball was caught. He performed an excellent slide onto the base… seconds too late. I knew Satoshi prided himself on his speed, so he must have felt pathetic. His confidence dropped, and the game went downhill. From that day on, Satoshi never foot on the field again.

About a week passed. I went back to school on June 14th. Satoshi did not show up for class. It started raining as I walked my bike away from the school. I thought of waiting under the nearest wooden bus-stop shelter to wait out the rain before biking away. Just then, I heard an endearing, girlish voice from behind me. I turned and looked.

" _Konnichiwa_ , Mii-chan."

It was Rena Ryuugu. She was a classmate and a good friend to Mion. I didn't dislike her, but I certainly found her strange. She would turn fifteen in just two months, but she sounded and dressed like a much younger girl. Her outfit that day was a white dress with a ruffley purple ribbon around her neck and a purple sash tied into a ruffley bow at her back. She also wore a white cap like a cross between a sailor's hat and a beret. Despite her pansified fashion style and childlike voice, there was an almost creepy air of solemnity hidden about her person. She didn't want that side of her to show. But according to Mion, sometimes the grim and capable person within Rena showed through her expressive blue eyes.

"Let's go home together," said the girl, and her smile was so innocent that it frightened me.


	4. Urayamashii to Kosei: Jealousy & Justice

***Rena's Experience***

"What a downpour!" said Rena Ryuugu.

She and I were standing under the wooden bus shelter as the light rain suddenly transformed into an early summer-storm. I stood by my bike with my back to the prissy girl. I knew a good deal about her, but she was Mion's friend. What was I supposed to say to her? How could I act natural? As I raked my brain for casual conversation starters, Rena suddenly asked a question that nearly knocked me off my feet.

"Mii-chan, are you interested in Satoshi-kun?"

"Yes, I like him." Something told me it would be impossible to lie to this girl and her huge, watchful eyes.

"In that case," said Rena, "you should smile."

I turned to face her, wondering if she was just messing with me.

"Mii-chan, I think your smile could brighten Satoshi-kun's whole day." She was serious. "I'm sure he'll come back to baseball practice someday. Probably once he finishes his part time job."

"Job?" I repeated. Satoshi hadn't told me anything about that. "When is he supposed to be done?"

"He'll be done when he's saved up the money he wants." Rena's voice was way too cute to be sincere. "All I know for sure is, he's got to be done with it by Satoko's birthday."

Satoko, again! Frustration filled my mind, and probably showed on my face. Maybe she couldn't help it that she was being bullied, but Satoko was nearly eleven years old. She should be able to survive without her brother's constant supervision. Satoko was the one making Satoshi sick. Satoko was taking away Satoshi's freedom. I knew I must have looked angry when Rena bothered to stand right next to me, look up at me, and ask what was wrong.

"O-oh," I stammered, striving for my usual confident laugh. "Satoko is too dependent on Satoshi-kun." My confidence returned. "Satoshi wouldn't feel so cornered if his sister would be more independent."

Rena laughed, making me wonder if I had strayed from Mion's personality. "My, you're certainly straightforward," she said. "Satoshi-kun might be feeling the same way, a little. He said something to me the other day." After hesitating, she went on, "This is supposed to be a secret, so don't tell anyone. Okay, Mii-chan?"

I nodded. Any secret about Satoshi was like a precious jewel to me.

Rena stared out at the muddy road. "Satoshi said… he feels a lot of pain… because everyone is depending on him to be the perfect big brother. He knows he shouldn't feel this way, though."

"Satoshi-kun must trust you a lot," I remarked, carefully keeping the jealousy out of my voice.

Her smile grew fainter as Rena sat down on the wooden bench. "It's not like there's anything between us," she stated. "It's just that… well, I experienced it, too…" Thunder rumbled as if to end her sentence.

"Um, what did you experience?" I asked in genuine confusion.

When she answered, Rena was no longer just a little girl who fancied caps and ribbons. She had become a young woman, one who had perhaps experienced more terror and strife than me. The girl's dark blue eyes looked strangely empty, like her mind had wondered far away. Her voice was solemn and intense, and she spoke just loudly enough to be heard over the rain.

"The experience…. I'm talking about those footsteps that follow you everywhere. Someone stands by your bed at night, and watches you from above in the day. I'm talking about that experience."

I stared at Rena and didn't even try to hide the concern on my face. Was this girl mentally ill, I wondered? Was she alright? Was she getting help for it? Should I report to someone that he told me about her hallucinations? I tried to judge Rena's expression, and found that she looked, more than anything, incredibly tired. She broke eye contact, stood up, and stared out into the rain.

"Satoshi-kun is experiencing these things, too," said the girl in the white dress. "It's a sign that he will be hit by Oyashiro's Curse." She shivered. "Someone spies on you from far away. Someone is always following you. Someone is always watching you from behind."

As Rena went on, my detective mind kicked in, and I started to wonder if she was talking about a psychotic experience or not. For all I knew, Rena might have been stalked by someone dangerous. Then I remembered that this "experience" she was describing was supposed to foretell Oyashiro's Curse. This wasn't the first time I entertained the possibility that Oyashiro's Curse was a plot by a group of villagers who wanted to eliminate perceived enemies. They probably planned the mysterious deaths of the past few years. Assuming that was true, they might also plan to stalk and threaten anyone they didn't like.

"And one day," Rena continued, "you start to hear an extra set of footsteps as you walk. And when you turn off the lights, someone is always by your bed. Someone stares at you in silence. Until, of course, you confess your sins."

My hypothesis had to be correct, then! People, and not gods, were putting this "curse" into effect. To think that they used stalkers to make high schoolers admit supposed sins against the village! If that was the case, then… wait.

"What sin did Satoshi commit?" I demanded furiously. Why did they want to punish him?

"Unlike me," Rena replied, "Satoshi is experiencing the Curse while living in Hinamizawa. There can only be one reason for that. It's because Satoshi-kun _wants_ to leave here, and move far away. Oyashiro-sama… will not forgive that." Rena met my eyes and smiled.

I didn't smile back. I didn't know what I was supposed to think of this girl. Was she pitiable and mentally ill? Or had she been the target of murderous conspirators hiding in the village? Or worse yet… was she working with those conspirators, trying to "curse" Satoshi? I got away from the scary little girl as soon as possible. I rode my bike over the muddy roads, hurrying home to Okinomiya. As soon as I got home, I intended to call Mion and ask for another day at school, pretending to be her.

***Mari***

I hurried to switch places with Mion and get to her school again on June 18th. This was an important mission because I needed to talk to Satoshi about Rena. Mission or no, though, I was always excited for a chance to see Satoshi. This would only be my fifth time ever to talk to him. Like some silly little girl, I wondered how I would appear to him. I was wearing one of Mion's outfits, which were usually more tomboyish: a long, comfortable skirt, white polo, beige vest, and school tie. My hair was up in a pony-tail that I decided looked hopelessly "country." If only Satoshi could see me in one of my stylish outfits, I thought as I approached the school entrance.

"Good morning!" I called over to Satoshi, who was kneeling by his locker.

There was no response, so I walked closer, and saw that the tiny, blond Satoko was at Satoshi's side. I smiled genuinely at both of them, but Satoshi wouldn't look at me; and when Satoko turned her head her toward me, she looked tremendously desolate. This actually startled me, and my voice shook a little.

"H-how are you?"

"I'm well," Satoshi stated tersely, and without turning to face me. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh—no particular reason," I stammered awkwardly. "Although… I was kind of worried that your new job might be stressing you out. So…"

Satoshi stood up to leave. "Are you done?" he asked. And when I hesitated, "Well, see you."

"Um, hey!" I called after Satoshi, who has leading Satoko by the hand. "The Coach says he wants you back on the team!"

"I already told the coach I have no intention of ever going back."

I was desperate to hold his attention. "Look, don't you think it will be good to get some exercise once in a while?"

"Not interested." Satoshi and Satoko kept walking.

I let them go, wondering what I had done wrong. Why was Satoshi treating me like this? Now that I thought it over, he had always seemed reluctant to talk to me. When he invited me to the baseball game, he made sure to say it was on Irie's orders. So…Satoshi had never really liked me, but he had put up with me because Mion is friends with little Satoko. Now, however, Satoshi was too overwhelmed and bitter to try to put up with me anymore. He didn't want to speak to me. He didn't want to look at me. He only wanted to be by his sister's side, holding her hand as if she were still five years old. I felt so hurt that my body went cold and my head began to ache. The only heat left in my body was the angry blood boiling in my fists and cheeks—this was caused by sudden, intense jealousy.

I wasn't going to give up yet. Once I talked one-on-one with Satoshi again, he would understand that I was trying to support him. He would see that I was a trustworthy listener. He would hear my words of praise and encouragement. He would notice, perhaps, that I loved him. So I invited him to eat with me during lunch break, making myself sound happy and confident.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Satoshi answered in a low, weary voice. "I want to be alone at lunch time. It's the only time I have to myself."

Satoshi left the classroom. I held back tears with effort. What if Satoshi really hated me, and I had no chance to be with him? My appetite was gone. I couldn't eat lunch.

Suddenly, from the back of the room, I heard the sound of a girl bursting into tears and sobbing. The sound came from the front of the class. I guessed who it was even before I stood up to go look. Whoever was crying had to be at least ten, judging by the voice, but she was loudly, hysterically sobbing in such a way as to mimic a toddler. That disgusted me. Growing up, I had been slapped, threatened, and insulted whenever I dared to shed tears. Oryo had loved to punish me for the crime of weeping. Without realizing it, I had adopted Oryo's view that children were always supposed to act strong. I felt it was morally wrong for a ten or eleven year old to continually cry for attention. My twisted sense of justice flared up. Somebody needed to give Satoko a good slap.

When I approached, I saw the tiny blond Satoko crying loudly and screaming "Nii-niii" for her brother. Her bento lunch had spilled all over the floor. I figured she must have accidentally knocked it over. In that case… was she really going into hysterics over spilled food?!

I walked over, knelt beside Satoko's desk, and began cleaning up the food. I quickly placed it all back in the bento box, and set it back on Satoko's desk. The whole time, Satoko went on riotously crying like a toddler. Her friends nearby offered her some of their food, but Satoko went on screaming for "Nii-nii."

That was when Mari came out. She was another one of my personalities. This wasn't the first time I was aware of her—she was the type of alter who always remained at the back of my mind—but it was the first time she fully took over my body and blocked my ability to calm her down. The name Mari can mean truth, reason, or justice. I named her this because all of her actions stem from a sense of morality that was correct as often as it was misguided. Mari always had a just reason for feeling angry, but tended to go overboard and show aggression. That day, when Satoko spilled her food, she was brutal.

I—as Mari—firmly placed a hand on Satoko's head. I gripped a handful of her golden hair, lifted her up by it, and threw her with all my strength. Her body collided with one of the lockers on the side of the room. The kids around us drew back in fear. Whimpering, Satoko lifted her head and looked at me. I must have appeared towering and formidable to such a petite girl.

"Do you know why this is happening to you?" Mari asked. Her voice was deeper and less feminine.

"Help me!" exclaimed the ten-year-old, resuming her bawling. "Help me, Nii-nii!"

Rage exploded inside Mari—inside that other me. She, no, I grabbed Satoko and threw her again. Her body crashed into a pair of school desks. She curled up in pain, but kept crying, and pleading "Nii-nii!"

"You are being punished because you're always like _that_!" Mari shouted wrathfully. I grabbed a hardcover book off the nearest desk and threw it at Satoko's head. "If you want to cry, then fine, go ahead and cry! But that won't solve anything." I threw another thin book at her while she wept. "Why are you crying?!" Mari's voice was vicious as she continued throwing books and folders. "Why do you cry? Do you think someone will come to save you? You can't even imagine how much you're hurting the one who always helps you! Do you understand?! This is your sin! You don't deserve to live." I ran out of books to throw and continued shouting. "If you're in so much pain, then just die! Don't you dare drag Satoshi with you! Go and suffer on your own! YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"

"Nii-nii!" Satoko cried.

"DO YOU THINK CRYING WILL SOLVE ANYTHING?!" I shrieked. "Don't think you can keep depending on Satoshi-kun! If only… IF ONLY YOU WERE GONE!"

Completely losing it, Mari picked up a school desk and prepared to slam it right onto Satoko. Luckily, someone interfered. A little girl about Satoko's age, with long hair and a pretty face, covered Satoko's body with her own. She was willing to take the hit for her friend. She ordered me, in a surprisingly adult voice, to stop hurting Satoko, because she had been through so much. Mari's desire to punish Satoko won out though, and I lifted the desk again. This time, Rena stepped in the way. I stood there, undecided. Not even Mari wanted to seriously injure three girls just to teach one of them a lesson. Unsure of who or what I was, I hesitated.

Satoshi dashed into the room, finally having heard his sister's cries. He struck me with a blow that knocked me several feet backwards against the lockers. When I looked up, Satoshi was holding Satoko in his arms, cradling her like a baby. He slowly turned his head and fixed his dark eyes on me. They were the eyes of a beast who was deciding whether or not to pounce.

"What is the meaning of this, Mion?"

Mari had gone back inside me, and I was Shion again. I honestly had no idea what was going on, so I hesitated to answer. To my horror, Satoshi blinked, and a tear fell down his face. The intent to attack, the ferocity, had left his purplish eyes. Now he looked like a trapped animal, at the end of his rope.

"What did Satoko ever do to you?" the boy asked in that same low, weary voice. "Why does everyone gang up on us? The whole village tortured Mom and Dad. And now you turn to us. Is that the way the Sonozaki family operates?"

I wanted to defend myself and say that at least one Sonozaki was on his side. But how could I claim that now? While I was unconscious, it looked as though Mari had been bullying Satoko. Why would I do that? Why did I have to live with these other people in my head? I said nothing to Satoshi. I left school and went home early.

" _Onee_ ," said Mion on the phone that night, "did you even consider that I have to clean up after you?"

"I'm sorry," I apologized sincerely. My emotions were raw, and I was beginning to break down. "I really don't know why I went nuts like that. Listen, _Onee_ … Satoshi-kun must hate the Sonozaki family, right?"

"Yeah," Mion admitted a little forlornly. "I think so."

Tears welled up in my blue-green eyes and my voice shook. "Then… why? Why now?" Why did I have to fall in love now? "If I knew that he hated the Sonozakis, I would never have…"

A small sob escaped my mouth. Yes, I thought, if Satoshi had glared at me with hatred the first time we met, I would never have thought of getting close to him. But he had smiled, and patted my head. Surely that was his true nature. If not for his unkind aunt, and if not for Satoko wearing him out, Satoshi would be happy.

In my mind, I wished that Satoko and her aunt would disappear after this year's Watanagashi.

***Hope***

It seemed that I was correct to have faith in Satoshi's good nature. He wanted to make up with me the following night. Mion called first, explaining that Satoshi wanted to talk, and that she had told him she would call right back. Then, Mion decided, it was only fitting for me to be the one to talk to him about this. My sister gave me Satoshi's number, and I called him up, feeling a mix of anticipation and dread.

"Yes, this is the Hojo Residence."

"Um… this is the Sonozaki house."

"Oh, hey there. Sorry I called at a bad time earlier. Is now ok?"

"Yeah, now is great." My voice was weak with shame.

"Listen. I'm sorry about yesterday." Satoshi sounded sincere.

"N-no!" I exclaimed, bowing, though he could not see it. "I should be the one apologizing! I'm sorry!"

"You don't need to apologize, Mion." Satoshi sounded more relaxed than usual. "I don't why I was acting hateful all morning. I don't know what got into me. The truth is, I will never forgive the people who drove my family into this state. Some of those unforgivable people are in _your_ family. But Mion, you're not one of them. You weren't the one persecuting us. That's why I wanted to apologize."

"Please don't be sorry," I told him honestly. "I didn't try hard enough to understand you, and I said those horrible things to your sister. And, well, speaking of Satoko… are you going to be okay, Satoshi?"

"I already quit my job," the boy replied. "I should have enough money when my last paycheck gets to me. That will be a big load off my back. But… it's Satoko who's suffering… much more than me."

"Things do seem tough for her." I tried to muster some pity for the girl. "Do you think she'll be ok?"

"Did she look okay to you?" Satoshi snapped abruptly.

"No, I'm sorry!" I bowed apologetically, three or four times, wishing the sentiment would reach him. "I'm sorry! That was a stupid thing for me to ask."

"Satoko is close to losing it. That's why… that's why I want her to go out and have fun like a normal girl for at least one night. Tomorrow is June 20th, the Watanagashi festival. I want you to take Satoko there."

"Sure, I don't mind," I replied truthfully, but something in his voice frightened me. "But Satoshi… why? Why don't you take her yourself? Wouldn't she probably prefer that?"

"… Um…" Satoshi sounded like he was caught off guard. "Um… I have something to do. I just have something to do tomorrow. I can't go to the festival because something related to my job."

Didn't he just say a minute ago that he had already quit his job? What could he be up to? I shook away the dark suspicions in my mind and nodded. I firmly assured him I would take Satoko to the festival.

"Thanks, Mion." Satoshi paused. "Hey, Mion… you don't believe in it, do you? …In Oyashiro's Curse?"

I laughed to hide the sense of eerie surprise I felt. "Oyashiro? Ha, that came out of nowhere."

But Satoshi wasn't joking. "Oyashiro-sama curses those who try to leave the village."

I decided to laugh and play along. "What is it, then?" I asked. "Are _you_ planning to leave the village?"

The boy paused a moment before answering, "…Not anymore…. But He still won't forgive me. … Uh hey, my aunt is back. I need to hang up. But, Mion… please protect Satoko."

Then he hung up before I could even say goodbye. I had a bad feeling in my stomach, like there was something important Satoshi wasn't saying. I wanted to go see him in person, but tomorrow was Sunday, so school wouldn't be open. The only thing I could for Satoshi, I thought, was to follow his instruction and go to that festival.


	5. 5: Fuzai Shomei: Alibi

**5: Fuzai Shomei: Alibi**

***Watanagashi 1982***

For the past four centuries, the people of Hinamizawa have been celebrating Watanagashi, or the Cotton Drifting Festival, on the third Sunday of June. I went with Satoko, one of her friends, and of course the peculiar Rena Ryuguu. Watanagashi was the largest celebration in the village. The stone road that descended from the Furude Shrine and crossed through the Town Center had been lit up and covered with vending stalls on each side. Here, the villagers played games, advertised family businesses, and sold food, drinks, treats, festival clothes, masks, paper lamps, and more. The torii, on each of the three stone terraces leading to the Shrine, were decorated with lights and ribbons. Everyone from all corners of the village came to socialize and forget their cares for a while.

When darkness fell, the people surrounded the platform of the Shrine's haiden to watch a certain Shrine Dance. The ceremony could only be performed by a female of the Furude family. Incidentally, Satoko's friend—the bold little girl who had defended Satoko from me—was Rika Furude. The nine year-old happened to be the daughter of the deceased Priest, and the rightful Miko of the Shrine. Her relatives decided that she should wait one or two more years before taking on the solemn duty of Shrine Maiden. Even so, Rika was so independent and wise for her age that villagers respected her deeply. They whispered that she was a partial reincarnation of Oyashiro; she alone was the holy interface between Hinamizawa and their jealous God. People gossiped that Rika would give the Shrine Dance next year.

At that point, I didn't care much about the history or meaning behind Watanagashi. I just took Satoko and Rika around to various vending stalls and encouraged them when they tried some crafts. Then we watched the Shrine Dance. I wanted to know why the dancer had torn up a mattress. I grew more curious when people started taking handfuls of cotton down to the streambank. Rika explained.

"About a month before the festival," she began, "every family donates a coat or a robe or a little bit of plain cotton to the Furude Shrine, so-it-is. Only heretics refuse to donate, so-it-is. Anyway, all that cotton gets sewn into a huge futon. On Watanagashi, the Miko uses her hoe to disassemble the futon in a certain, precise way. Then the villagers can each claim a piece of cotton to put in the stream, so-it-is. The cotton is set adrift on the stream to soak up and carry away all the sorrows and sins of the villagers. Mion-san, so-it-is, did you know? Cotton absorbs the oil and sweat of your body. It soaks up the impurities. That's why we use cotton, so-it-is."

I tried not to chuckle at the little priestess' habit of saying "so it is." Despite the wisdom evident in her violent eyes, I thought, this girl was less than ten years old. She was still experimenting with language and trying to figure out how a holy Shrine Maiden should talk. Indeed, Rika was cute. She kept Satoko company much more than I did that night. That was a relief for me.

***Detective Oishi***

I woke up the next morning to the obnoxious ringing of my bedside phone. It was Mion. That much I expected, but I wasn't expecting the news she gave me. She told me that Satoko's aunt was dead. In fact, she had been murdered—bludgeoned to death—and found during the night. When I asked if the police had a suspect, Mion said she didn't think so, because Detective Oishi of the Police was questioning everyone around town. This Oishi guy suspected that one of the villagers was the murderer, which apparently deeply offended Mion. She was going on about it angrily.

"Onee," I interrupted, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. "Does Satoshi have an alibi for last night?"

"Huh? I don't know." Mion didn't even understand the implication of my question.

I knew I had to find Satoshi right away and get the truth out of him. Had he murdered his own aunt? He certainly had motive to do so. Perhaps he had helped arrange for the murder? Perhaps he was hiding somewhere, terrified, not knowing what to do. Or perhaps this feeling within me was entirely wrong, and Satoshi was innocent. Either way, I would help him. So I set out to find the boy I loved.

I biked around the Town Center and the surrounding dirt streets for a few hours before I found him. Actually, even in a village as small as Hinamizawa, it was a miracle that I happened upon him. Satoshi stood in front of a game-and-toy store. It was a popular place for small children, who admired the plushies and stuffed animals, as well as for preteens and some teenagers, who enjoyed the games and the collectable figurines. Satoshi was staring at a large stuffed bear in the display window. I caught onto his thinking right away, and greeted him cheerfully.

"So you want to give that bear to Satoko for her birthday?" I inquired.

He nodded with a slightly embarrassed smile. "There's one problem," he said, gazing at the high-quality stuffed animal. "It might get sold before my next paycheck comes. That's why I stop by once a day to check on it."

"Oh please," I said in mock-annoyance, taking his hand and heading into the shop. "I'll reserve it."

Perhaps Satoshi's lack of common sense, which Mion found displeasing, actually made him seem more attractive to me. Maybe it's because I enjoy helping to set people straight. Honestly, had this boy's head been in the clouds? Satoshi was saving up his only money to buy a special gift for his poor, pitiful sister, and yet he hadn't bothered to reserve the damn toy. Oh Satoshi, I thought, this is why you have me. I did the talking for him and reserved the stuffed animal for Satoshi to pick up as soon as his check arrived. Satoshi, I thought, you won't have to lift a finger when you're with me.

"You know," I teased as we left the shop, "if it's something they like, most people will try to reserve it right away. It's rare for that to not even cross your mind."

Satoshi rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. "Yeah. But regardless… thank you for doing that, Mion."

The golden-haired boy extended one arm and gently set his hand on my head. He gave my hair an affection ruffle, and then he froze. I looked up at his face. … Satoshi's eyes can be like those of a wildcat when he becomes aggressive. When he becomes frozen with terror, I learned, his dark eyes look those of a rabbit about to be eaten. This was the expression on Satoshi's face when I looked up. But he wasn't gazing at me with such fear—his eyes were fixed on something behind me.

"Well, hello there. There's something I want to ask you about, Mr. Hojo."

The man I saw when I turned around was Detective Kuraudo Oishi. He was not particularly tall, but certainly big, wearing a khaki trousers, a dark grey dress-shirt, and a brick-red tie and suspenders. Judging from his postures, cracked voice, and silver-grey hair, he had to be at least in his mid-fifties. I didn't think he could be much older than sixty, though, keeping that "young" expression of lively interest and good-spirited humor. When he spoke in his cracked-but-accommodating voice, the two businessmen on either side of him surrounded me and Satoshi. They were probably undercover cops. Their gazes, as well as Oishi's sharp eyes, were all fixed on Satoshi.

"What is this?" I demanded rudely, trying to catch the Detective's eye. "You expect him to come with you voluntarily? Satoshi, let's go. He doesn't actually have the right to detain you."

I tried to pull Satoshi away with me, but I paused in surprise when I saw that he had not yet recovered his composure. His eyes were wide and unfocused, and he was visibly trembling. The unfortunate boy looked like he had been caught red-handed. Oishi must have reached that conclusion too. He stepped forward to put his hand on Satoshi's shoulder, saying something like "Now, son," but I refused to allow it. Nobody was going to take my Satoshi away. I dived between the young man and the old one, taking a solid, aggressively protective stance.

"You just want to know if he has an alibi, right?" I questioned, trying to sound strong. "Then I'll explain! Satoshi-kun and I were talking in a restaurant in Okinomiya for most of last night. The place is a café called Angel Mort."

To his credit, Oishi laughed instead of calling me a liar. "But, young lady," he said, "we have already confirmed you were at the festival until the very end. So, I find your story a little hard to believe, Miss Mion Sonozaki."

At that moment, I decided to throw caution to the wind. I was a young woman in love, and there wasn't anything I wouldn't do to protect that love. It was the most fulfilling thing in my entire life, to be in love, and to hope that the boy might love me in return. If I had to blow my cover to protect Satoshi, I would do it. If that meant causing problems for my relatives, I would still do it. If it meant incurring the wrath of Oryo Sonozaki, then still, I would do it. And I did.

"Too bad for you," I told the Detective smugly. "I am not Mion. Consequently, I was not present at Watanagashi. I am Shion Sonozaki. I am the twin sister of Mion. I believe this is the first time we have met, Detective. Well then, Konnichiwa." I bowed politely.

Oishi looked like he was getting tired of engaging me. "It's not wise to tease grown-ups," he stated.

"Then check my family registry," I replied without missing a beat. "Or are you really going to make me stand next to my sister to convince you?"

This remark succeeded in making Oishi pause. He must be starting to consider the possibility that I was telling the truth. He took a few steps back and started whispering with his two colleagues. While they debated what to do, I turned to the still-frozen Satoshi and quickly instructed him.

"Just tell everyone you were at Angel Mort with me, whatever they may say. Oh, Satoshi, are you even listening?" I grabbed his shoulders and gave him a little shake to snap him out of his daze. "Hey! If you don't get back to your senses, the cops will take you away!"

It worked, and Satoshi nodded, "Y-yeah, ok."

The fact that I had revealed my identity began to sink in. I looked down, worried. My voice was weak.

"Are you mad at me?"

"Huh?" Satoshi grunted. "No. Why would I be mad?"

"Well… because I lied to you."

To my undying surprise, Satoshi actually laughed. "I knew something didn't add up," he confessed, "since you didn't always follow our conversations with Rika and Rena. Now it all makes sense."

"So you're really not mad that I pretended to be Mion?" I asked, realizing at the same moment that something in my voice was "off." Of course—that was it—I had stopped imitating Mion's confident, friendly, tomboyish mannerisms. My voice had betrayed its higher pitch and feminine intonation.

Satoshi looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he said, "This isn't the first time we've met, right? I think there were five or six days you seemed not-quite-Mion. Well, alright then. Shion, huh? It's a nice name."

My cheeks flushed pink and I felt so honored, from that one compliment, that I closed my eyes to savor the feeling. I would remember Satoshi as the only Hinamizawa villager that smiled at me after learning my real identity. When the news got out, I would receive looks of disgust and disapproval from villagers young and old, male and female. But Satoshi… he actually laughed when I asked if he was angry. And he said that some days, he had been able to sense a difference between me and my sister. Did that mean he knew me, in a way? Did that mean this wasn't our first meeting after all? Of course. Until now I had feared that I would never catch up to Mion's level of closeness with Satoshi. However, this boy treated me as if my sister and I were equal. On top of that, he complimented my name. I was overjoyed.

***The Underground Torture Chamber***

In the end, Detective Oishi decided to recognize me as Shion, which meant interviewing me at the police station. They brought Satoshi, too, but to my irritation, they questioned us separately. My interview-interrogation went fine, which sort of surprised me—apparently I was a pretty good liar. I worried about how Satoshi's interview went, but when I got out of mine, he had already left. Perhaps, I figured, he was in a hurry to get back to Satoko. Well, Satoko could have him now, I decided. I was satisfied with the little bit of individual attention he had given me that day.

I left the police station feeling empowered, until I realized I was miles away from where I parked my bike. Just as I was considering calling Kasai, I noticed a black car with dark tinted windows parked nearby. Standing between me and the car were three men. I could tell from their black sunglasses and the way they stared coldly at me that they were agents of the Sonozaki clan. I tried not to feel afraid. There was no reason to feel afraid. They were taking me to see Oryo. I would go, get it over with, and return safely home. Nothing could make me bend my will to that Monster.

"Where is Kasai?" I asked my escort.

None of them answered. So, they were going to make me worry about Kasai by not telling me anything about him. Fine. I wasn't going to let that get to me. I sighed in annoyance and got into the car. I figured that the police must have called the main Sonozaki house to verify my identity. As such, I could no longer get away with pretending to be Mion. I knew I was in deep shit, but I was not prepared for what would end up happening.

When we reached the estate, the car pulled up near the entrance to the underground shrine I had never seen. Mion was waiting for me in the springy grass by the side of the drive. She looked neither happy to see me nor worried about me. She maintained a calm and neutral expression, wearing the traditional clothing of the young (male) heir: a cream-colored men's kimono with the deep-blue obi tied in front.

Mion didn't hug me or approach or even give a greeting. Despite the obvious fear on my face, my twin said tersely, "The Family Head is furious," and started walking toward the mysterious shrine's entrance. Before long, we saw a stone building through the trees, taking on a rosy light in the sunset. On one side of the building were steel double doors. So this was the entrance.

We walked through a passage and reached a wall of dark wood and another door. Beyond the door should be the honden, the holy chamber, of this supposed shrine. I hesitated, so Mion opened the door and walked in ahead of me. I followed slowly, and found I was in an underground room made of stone. The place had a heavy, stuffy, and dusty atmosphere. As soon as I entered, I looked to right.

There, on a low stone dais, sat the lead memmembers of the Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi families. They sat on their knees on black floor cushions. In the back, three people sat in a row: Toji Kimiyoshi, Akane Sonozaki, and her husband Hajime Ando. In front were Kiichirou Kimiyoshi and Oryo Sonozaki. The Furude house had no representative because the only living heir to the family shrine was nine year old Rika. Even without the Furudes, though, these people were powerful enough to rule the town.

My father, Hajime, commanded a small yakuza force that had already started to bribe and infiltrate the police forces. My mother, Akane, and grandmother, Oryo, were on excellent, friendly terms with the Chiji, governor-in-prefecture. Along with would-be politician Toji and old man Kimiyoshi, they also controlled the town council. That council, in turn, triple-functioned as Hinamizawa's School Board, Election Committee, and Public Safety Committee. Old Kiichirou, the head of the Kimiyoshi family, was seen as the Village Leader, and had immense influence inside and outside Hinamizawa. Here were the five most powerful people in the village, staring up at me with cold, revolted glares.

Stifling a gasp, I quickly looked away, so as to avoid catching eye contact with one of these austere authorities. When I looked to the left, however, the sight I saw was even more frightening than my relatives. It was a torture chamber. I quickly took everything in, the horrors that lined the honden. A device just like an Iron Maiden but shaped like a demon. Blades hanging on parts of the wall. Chains hanging from the ceiling. A chair with straps—some kind of torture seat—positioned in a corner next to a dense wooden cane and a couple of thick whips. In another corner was a horizontal slab, for a live prisoner, with metal restraints for arms, legs, and throat. Above, on some kind of tool rack, strange weapons hung, similar to sickles, cleavers, and hoes.

So, the stories I heard as a kid were true. There really was a Sonozaki Underground Torture chamber. I turned to Oryo, desperately wanting to ask her if this torture chamber was a just an antique collection, or something being actively used. She spoke before I could find words, though. She looked at me with pure, unrelenting hatred, and her voice sounded so malicious that she had to be part Demon.

"You snake!" she shouted. "First you shamelessly return to Hinamizawa. Now, I find you with the son of a cursed traitor!"


	6. Kejime: Responsibility

***Mari's Second Appearance***

"You snake!" the old woman shouted. "First you shamelessly return to Hinamizawa. Now, I find you with the son of a cursed traitor!"

Oryo Sonozaki: the woman who owned me, with the face of the devil. I remembered years of emotional and physical abuse at her hands. Seeing her icy eyes and cruel features sent shivers down my spine. Even before I met Satoshi, I never doubted the fact that she was easily capable of eliminating people by killing them. Her intolerant glare threatened to shatter me. If this kept up, I would end up cowering. I would become vulnerable, again, to her twisted manipulation and concentrated hatred. I couldn't let that happen. I dared to speak up.

"You can't blame Satoshi for what his family did. It has nothing to do with him…"

" _Damaraseru!_ " the Hag screamed. "Every Hojo carries the blood of traitors in his veins."

Then Mari woke up. I lost track of what I was doing, didn't remember it, but Mion told me later.

"You damn Hag!" Mari cried in a voice of righteous judgement. "Why do you want someone to blame?"

Oryo stood up and took an aggressive stance. "You dare talk back to me!"

"Shut up!" Mari retorted, walking closer to the hag instead of maintaining the respectful distance. "Listen! You don't know a damn thing about Satoshi-kun! You don't know shit, yet you're treating him like some kind of parasite! Is reasonable to be so angry just because a Sonozaki was seen with a Hojo? Do you not see how stupid that is? Your way of thought is outdated. It's useless. It's worthless!" Mari stomped her feet for good measure, clenching her fists, putting her righteous anger on full display.

"You know very well what kind of horrible mistake that boy made!" exclaimed the Hag.

Mari understood the implication: everyone in this room believed Satoshi had murdered his aunt. They had reached the same conclusion I had. Or perhaps… perhaps they were told by Mion, the only person to whom I revealed my suspicion about Satoshi.

Mari accused Mion of snitching, and the heiress said nothing. She only stared indifferently. Why would Mion rat out Satoshi?—and rat me out too, for that matter? The answer seemed obvious to Mari: Shion simply disliked the fact that we had feelings for a Hojo. There wasn't a single person here on Mari's side—on my side. Not even Mion. Her formal silence and emotionless face proved once and for all that she would not help me—Mari— out of this.

Pausing to take a breath, Mari became aware that she was sweating and her hands were shaking. She thought to herself that the accusations against Satoshi might very well be true. We—Mari, Shion, Haruka—we might be disrespecting the town leaders in the name of defending a murderer. Even so… even so… we were in love. We were different personalities, but we had all fallen in love with Satoshi. Love, thought Mari, is freedom. And freedom, she thought, is part of justice. So she—we—threw back her head and let out a long, dramatic laugh. Laughing was the only way to hide the fear… the fear we would feel when we took the next step.

"It's true," Mari said, smiling boldly, and standing condescendingly with one hand on her hip. "I don't care one bit that Satoshi is a Hojo and I am a Sonozaki. I don't care one bit if it makes the family look bad. Yes, alright—I'll admit it! I am in love with Satoshi Hojo! I love him! Is love such an evil thing?! Do you people need a reason or a personal gain just to love somebody?"

"That's enough, Shion," said Mion resignedly, while my mom and dad shook their heads in disapproval.

She walked over and leaned against me, moving her face just inches from mine. Her teal eyes were grim.

"We understand that you must feel strongly about this issue," Mion began in a flat voice. "However, after what you just said, nobody here will defend you anymore. You'll just have to take responsibility for your words and deeds. You will need to distinguish yourself before the family head."

"Distinguish yourself." I—Mari—instantly recognized that term. Oryo told many stories about town conflicts from her younger years; many of them were "peacefully" resolved after the rebel or troublemaker properly "distinguished himself." According to Oryo, perceived rebels would be hated indefinitely unless one or more of the troublemakers received personal punishment that would distinguish him from his comrades. The more cruel and painful the punishment, the more a person has distinguished himself. It was a way of voluntarily accepting physical punishment to earn grace from the cruel Sonozakis. Mion would say that accepting punishment is the way to "take responsibility," but in this case, it's just a way to beg for favor from a tyrant.

When we heard Mion's words, Mari backed away. "Why?" she asked, beginning to get a chill of fear as she remembered all the torturous instruments in the room. "Why should I have to do this?!"

"This is Hinamizawa," Mion answered sternly, "and we are the Sonozaki family. We are one of the Three Great Families, and the de facto leaders of Hinamizawa. And you are the twin sister of the Sonozaki family heir. As such, we must all learn to take responsibility for our misdeeds."

"That's where you and I have differed ever since my return," Mari said, calling up my hazy consciousness briefly. "The customs of Hinamizawa. The honor of the Sonozaki family. What about them? I don't care at all about any of that."

"You had best listen," my sister ordered. "Did you stop to think about the people who have been taking care of you in Okinomiya? Mr. Kasai and our uncle Yoshirou are restrained in the back room."

***Jun's Appeal***

As I realized the horror of Mion's words, the lion of justice inside me—Mari—shrank and faded away. But I was not quite myself, not quite Shion, either. Jun was a personality that came out even less often than the others. She was my subconscious' second line of defense if Shion's reasoning failed or Mari's fiery passions evaporated. The most sweet-natured and girlish version of us, Jun had come out once or twice when I was with Satoshi. When I'm Jun, I am kind, frail, and submissive to a fault. This personality developed as another way to deal with the abuse I suffered when younger. If one is sweet and feminine enough, surely the pain will stop. Surely I will win sympathy.

Having just switched from being Mari, it took Jun a couple of seconds to establish what was going on. Oryo Sonozaki was demanding punishment. Mion Sonozaki had just said that Shion's two loyal caretakers—her uncle and bodyguard—were locked in the back room. By this point, me and all my personalities were convinced that Oryo ordered the deaths of her enemies and blamed them on the Curse of Oyashiro. Oryo and her agents were capable of killing. Were they really threatening to kill our uncle Yoshirou? And…

"Why Kasai?" Jun asked in a high, fearful voice.

There was no way they could kill Kasai. He was an agent of the Sonozaki house too! He was just like my brother, too. Did Oryo and Mion hate Shion so much that they wanted to talk away the only ones who ever protected her? Why Kasai?

"Shion," said my sister firmly but calmly. "Apologize to Grandma, and no one else will be hurt."

"But Mion!" Jun's voice was adorably innocent, but shook with anxiety. "Did I… did I say anything wrong? Was what I said really that bad?" Jun had no way of remembering Mari's bold words.

My twin responded by turning to face the wooden door to the offertory chamber where Kasai and Yoshirou were held. What was she going to do to them? There was not an ounce of pity on her face.

"Kasai and our uncle have been affected even though they had nothing to do with your crime," Mion stated. "In the same way, Satoshi-kun might be affected, even if he has nothing to do with this."

"Wait!" Jun pleaded, running over and clinging to Mion's arm. "Onee!"

"What is it, Shion?" The heiress pulled her arm out of her dependent sister's hands.

The personalities that made up my consciousness—Shion, Mari, Jun, Haruka—had, for the last four years, developed immense courage. We were no longer afraid of Oryo. We could live through anything she did to us and she could still not make me apologize. We, the collective Shion, vowed never to submit to Oryo. However, we had only considered threats and harm done to ourselves; none of us had thought about what would happen if Oryo threatened loved ones. There wasn't a choice anymore; to keep Kasai alive, to keep Satoshi unhurt, I would need to submit. There was no better personality than Jun for groveling.

"I'm… sorry." Tears fell from Jun's dark blue-green eyes, and I felt them too.

Jun dived into a deep bow. No, it was groveling. She was on her knees with her body held low and her forehead on the floor between outstretched arms. The sound of her small sobs should have broken her family's hearts. But they let her continue begging.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please forgive me, my master!"

Mion's cruel-but-detached expression did not change. "Well then, Shion. If you're sorry, how do you plan to take responsibility for this?"

Before the docile Jun could think of a reply, Mion went to a shelf and picked up a strange device. She brought it back with her and placed it on the small table next to the dais. The base was made of iron, and on one end of it was an indentation just the right size for supporting a human wrist. There were strong leather restraints to keep the wrist and hand in place. A finger's distance away down the base, there was a small, slender, two-pronged metal fixture. This was attached to a lever that stuck out from the far end of the base. When the lever was pulled down, the metal fixture would be forcibly jerked upward. Jun—and I—began trembling severely, guessing the purpose of this device.

"This is a tool to remove fingernails," Mion indicated. "Do you know how to use it?"

"No," Jun squeaked. "Why—how would I know?"

"This method was used before surgical denailing. It pulls off the nail with brute force. Sometimes, this can damage the cuticles, but if you're careful, the nail will regrow in about six months. This is a relatively light punishment used for troublemakers within the Sonozaki family. Our mother, Akane, distinguished herself by removing one of her nails. In this custom, each nail you remove corresponds to a sin you committed. Shion Sonozaki, you will remove three of your own fingernails."

Poor Jun tried her best to remain standing, to resist cowering on the floor, to curb the urges that told her to run away. She tried to think straight even as she trembled wildly, her eyes wide with horror. Alright, so this was the only way to satisfy Oryo. But Akane Sonozaki only had to remove one of her fingernails to distinguish herself back in the day. Why three, in Jun's case? Wait—Kasai, Yoshirou, Satoshi—there were three. Shion's three sins were plotting with Kasai, secretly working for Yoshirou at Angel Mort, and spending time with Satoshi Hojo. It should follow, then, that paying for her three sins would ensure the safety of the three men we cared about.

"Will—will you really let them go if do this?" Jun asked, sounding almost crazed with fear. "Mion, promise me! If I rip out my nails, you'll let them all go! Promise!"

"This is your way of taking responsibility," Mion rejoined apathetically. "This is in no way meant to be a trade. If you don't want to do it, then…"

Mion began walking toward the door to the back room again. Her long, thick hair swished in its ponytail. She knew it would be her job as heiress to silence Yoshirou and Kasai in whatever way suited her.

"Wait!" Jun implored. "Please wait. I'll do it."

***Removal of Sins***

My consciousness as Shion was returning. The personality of Jun was slowly fading off. When I had become Shion again, I had no idea what was going on, but my left arm was on the table, fixed to a denailing torture device. Mion was fastening the straps to hold my wrist and hand steady. Oryo watched from the stone dais behind us. I tried to figure out what was going on. Why was I doing this again?

I slid my pinky forward, sweating profusely. I let the thin, double-pronged chip of metal slide under my nail as far as it would go without inflicting terrible pain. I tried to think, but I was sick to my stomach and panting just to get my breath. Why was I doing this? Uncle Yoshirou? Kasai? Did they have something to do with this? Then an image crossed my mind: the sight of a golden-haired boy smiling at me with dark brownish-purple eyes.

Satoshi! Of course, this was all for Satoshi. I would remove my nails to remove my sins, and save Kasai, Yoshirou, and Satoshi all at once! I reached for the lever. My breath came in wheezing gasps. My right hand gripped the lever. Sweat dripped off my face and splattered onto the hardwood table. I took a deep breath, screamed, and pulled the lever down.

The metal chip under my nail was propelled upward in one single, forceful movement, taking my nail off with it. The pain made me so lightheaded I almost collapsed. Despite my best efforts, I began to weep piteously. It felt worse than any broken bone or muscle sprain I had ever experienced. First, the dreadful feeling of ripping and tearing. Second, the burning sting of the exposed skin and bleeding cuticles. Third, the throbbing ache that made me feel like my pinky had been crushed by a metal bat.

My voice was light, broken, and breathless. "Mion," I pleaded, "Please stop this. Please forgive me. You know… you know this really hurts. …This really fucking hurts, Mion…"

"Are you giving up already?" my sister asked coldly.

I was starting to panic, but I kept trying to stay strong. "No, no, I'm not giving up. Don't hurt anybody else. I can do this. This is easy. This doesn't hurt at all."

With a scream, I slammed my right arm downward to hit the lever again. My arm, however, trembled on the way down, and only hit the edge of the lever. The pain was unbearable, and my head swam when I saw what I had done. Only part of my ring-finger's nail had come loose; it remained attached to my finger by its base. This was probably worse than having the whole thing yanked off.

"Hmm, you missed," Oryo remarked indifferently.

"No way," I breathed. "You mean I have to do it again?" I shrieked, "No! _Iya da_!"

"Shion, you're almost done." Mion took hold of my shoulders and tried to steady me as I thrashed like a stricken animal. "Try your best to finish it!"

"No!" I screeched, blinded by the tortuous pain. "I can't do it! It hurts! No! No! No!"

Defeated, I let my head fall onto Mion's chest. I was screaming and weeping. I didn't understand why my pain-tolerant personality, Haruka, had not appeared. My other personalities hadn't helped me. I desperately pleaded for Mion's sympathy one more time as I cried in her arms.

I became vaguely aware that Mion had looked over and nodded at the three Sonozaki agents who had entered the room a few minutes ago. They walked over to me. Mion let me go.

I kept repeating " _Iyada_ " as one agent restrained my free arm, another put a hood over my head, and a third stood ready to pull the lever on the nail remover. I screamed to the top of my lungs as the agents took over the torture. I remember them slamming the lever down and pulling off the rest of my ring-finger nail. That's all I remember. I was unconscious when they removed the nail of my middle finger.

I remained out cold as Kasai was released and sent to take me home. The appalling torture had dragged well into the night. I would not awaken till the next morning.


	7. Kamigakushi: Spirited Away

***Post Trauma***

Kasai cleaned and dressed my mutilated left hand. I tried to live with the pain, but it kept me from writing, studying, working, and cooking. We couldn't go to the hospital or someone might find out that I had been tortured. If I told anyone what the Sonozaki family had done to me, I would be considered an enemy of the village and I might even be killed. Finally, Kasai somehow or other acquired a week's worth of opiate painkillers. Those pills were the only things that kept me stable for a while.

For the next few days, Kasai and I said nothing about what happened to us. I thought I would lose my mind if I dared to speak about the torture. I still didn't understand why Haruka, the personality who could tolerate pain, had not come to my rescue. I still couldn't believe Mion betrayed me and watched me being tortured. The least surprising, but still horrifying fact was that Oryo had all but proved she and her agents must have tortured and killed people in the past. Finally I understood the Curse of Oyashiro. Every year, someone within the Sonozaki clan eliminated a perceived "traitor" or "rebel." Not that I was ready to start playing detective again.

I don't think I need to state that my experience in the underground torture chamber traumatized me. From then on, I would be haunted by post-traumatic stress. I frequently relived parts of the event. When alone, I had flashbacks of bowing, begging, screaming, and seeing that torture device. Frequent nightmares of being tortured by Oryo and Mion troubled my sleep. Sometimes, random things acted as triggers that brought back my panic and hysteria suddenly. Hitting one of my fingers, seeing Kasai's pictures of the Sonozaki estate, or entering a stone room were all common triggers. In addition, I would never again be able to tolerate any kind of restraint on my body.

Staying in my apartment for seven days, I avoided situations or people that could trigger my memories. Even when I recovered enough to leave the apartment, I remained avoidant. I would refuse to ride in Kasai's car because it was just like the car that had taken me to the torture chamber. I kept out of crowds, since anybody in the village—or anybody in the prefecture—might have connections to the Sonozakis. I carried my Taser with me everywhere. I didn't talk to Mion, or anyone in my family, when I could help it.

Despite all this, I still wanted to be able to work to ease Kasai's burden and pay for my own rent. I decided that I needed to try to keep working. When Uncle Yoshirou got out of the hospital (he had a minor concussion from being struck by Sonozaki agents), he told me he would continue operating Angel Mort, refusing to be cowed by Oryo. So, just a week after experiencing real torture, I headed back to work. I decided that I would pretend to be a normal teenage girl again.

***Satoshi's Disappearance***

On my way to work, I stopped by the toy shop where Satoshi and I had reserved the stuffed bear. Staring through the display window, I saw that the toy was gone. In my mind, I congratulated Satoshi for finally buying it. I hoped to find a way to see Satoshi soon, but I wasn't sure how, yet. There would be no point in pretending to be Mion anymore, even if she would ever stoop to allow it.

Detective Oishi happened to be walking down the street. He stopped to speak to me, looking relaxed and amused as usual. The detective addressed me as Mion and asked after my health, and I informed him that I was Mion. Oishi laughed apologetically, and then looked at me more seriously.

"How are your injuries, Miss Shion?" he inquired. "Don't let them get infected, and they'll heal nicely."

My left hand was bandaged and out of sight behind my back. How did Oishi know about it?

"Anyway," the Detective said, "could I ask you a few things at the station?"

Of course, I thought as I rode with the cop to the local police station. Satoshi must still be a suspect of the murder of his aunt. I had remained hidden for a week, occupied with my trauma, but outside, this year's murder was still the talk of the town. As much as I wanted to trust Oishi, as much as I wanted to find a way to lean on him for help, he was still the man trying to arrest Satoshi. I couldn't be too friendly with him. I remained silent as we entered a small interrogation room with a metal desk. I felt anxious sitting down, but I was thankful the walls were not made of stone, and that the window in the back let in a lot of sunlight. Yes, I reminded myself, I was not underground anymore. There was nothing to fear.

"What is it you want?" I asked, not hiding my annoyance. "Do you want details about Satoshi's alibi?"

"I'm no longer interested in his alibi for the night of the murder," Oishi replied patiently. "I would like to know where he was and what he might have been doing last night, though."

"Huh? Why last night?"

Oishi explained, "Satoshi Hojo disappeared last night after going for a walk."

I stood up out of my chair in surprise. Missing? Was he hiding out somewhere because he was guilty? No, I decided. Even if he was guilty, he wouldn't leave Satoko alone for long. If he went missing, then he must have been kidnapped…or killed… by someone who saw him as an enemy.

"Oh?" said Oishi in response to the look on my face. "You didn't know?"

I lost my composure completely, screaming, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SATOSHI IS MISSING? WHY? WHY?!"

After I managed to regain composure, Oishi explained further. He suspected Satoshi of killing his aunt. Although Satoko thought she saw him last night, Satoshi had probably been missing since the day before. He had gone out to buy a stuffed animal for his sister, but he never returned. So he hadn't bought that bear after all. Oishi thought the boy's disappearance was sudden, almost like a kidnapping—there had been no evidence that he planned to run away that day. It was possible he had been captured by whoever was behind this "Curse of Oyashiro." It was also possible that Satoshi, being acutely depressed, had decided to suddenly kill himself. There was still chance he was alive, though, Oishi thought. He had wondered whether Satoshi might seek shelter with me. I had to tell the optimistic detective that I hadn't laid eyes on Satoshi in a week.

Kasai was waiting for me in the kitchen when I got home. He had been welcomed back as a Sonozaki agent after I had "distinguished myself," and he suffered nothing more than a bruise on the head and a demotion. That day, he said he learned some news that might be of interest to me. The murderer who killed Satoshi's aunt had been found, Kasai reported. The murderer admitted to trying to copy the mysterious deaths of the past three years. Although he didn't confess to killing the aunt, the drug-addicted suspect was found carrying baseball bat stained with the blood of Satoshi's aunt. He would almost certainly be found guilty of the crime.

As my nerves crumbled, I tried to think over the implications of this. If that drug addict was really the murderer, then Satoshi had nothing at all do with it. And if Satoshi had nothing to do with, then he never would have tried to run away or go into hiding. Besides, he loved Satoko more than life itself. It seemed like kidnapping was the only possible reason for his disappearance. And only time would tell whether the boy would reemerge with a few torture wounds, or remain indefinitely missing. If the latter, I could only assume the Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi families had decided to secretly kill him.

The village leaders lied about not hurting anyone else, and they robbed the boy I loved from me.

***Miyo Takano***

A week passed and Satoshi did not reappear.

Due to the emotional turmoil of being tortured and losing Satoshi, I began to see an increase in dissociative symptoms. The passive influence of my alters became more pronounced. Often, I found myself saying things I didn't intend to say. (Example, Mari calling Kasai a drug dealer.) I sometimes had powerful thoughts out of nowhere, and they weren't mine. (Example: thinking about killing Mion.) My mind underwent intense internal struggle, and sometimes I could hear our voices arguing. I occasionally encountered startling amnesia, forgetting where I was or what I had just been doing. Then I started experiencing gaps in my everyday memory. In particular, I had no memory of work or my private project.

Concerning work, I asked Uncle Yoshirou how I seemed. He said that I acted like a different person at work compared to how he remembered me growing up. At Angel Mort, I always behaved in an endearing, respectful, and caring fashion. My submissive behavior made me a favorite of the guests of the maid café. I figured, then, that Jun must be taking over my mind and body at work. After all, Jun was the most girlish of us, and the one most likely to try to please customers.

Kasai filled me in on my memory gaps or personality changes at home. One day he told me that I spent at least an hour a day compiling some kind of "Detective's Casebook." Though I had no memory of doing this, I found the notebook and supplies in my desk drawer. I figured that must be private project belonging to Mari. She was a "lion of justice" and the one most interested in joining the police someday.

As for Haruka, the personality that felt no pain but inflicted it on others, she still did not appear. Sometimes I felt her thoughts or heard her voice faintly in my head, but she wasn't strong enough to take control of my consciousness. I could tell, however, Haruka was building her strength. When she finally surfaced, I was going to have a devil of a time controlling her.

As I worked at Angel Mort, I decided Mari had the right idea and I went back to "playing detective." This time, I was not simply playing. I had a reason to want to uncover the truth. I requested to meet with Oishi, and the good-humored detective agreed. He told me more about the recent cases. The junkie who was found with the murder weapon had killed himself in jail without ever confessing he killed Satoshi's aunt. Still, he was considered the culprit. As for Satoshi's disappearance, the only development was that villagers had started blaming Oyashiro's Curse again. When questioned, the villagers would say the boy had been "spirited away by a demon."

How ridiculous. I left the police station in frustration. It seemed unbelievable that, in this day and age, the village unanimously blamed supernatural phenomena for something that was obviously a criminal case. Almost just as annoying was the fact that Oishi treated this year's mysterious deaths as separate from those of previous years. Well then, I needed to show the village as well as Oishi that all these instances were connected, and that the likely culprits were staring them in the face.

I went to the library to work on me and Mari's "Casebook." Here, I wrote down all the facts I knew about the mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa as well as the case of the missing boy. I attached newspaper clippings and photos to back things up. I wrote notes and speculations about how these crimes could have been planned, quoting books about crime, publicized police reports, and media. Furthermore, I looked up dozens of criminal cases where crimes once thought to be unrelated had actually turned out to be connected. I even created suspect pages for Oryo Sonozaki and Kiichirou Kimiyoshi.

Just as I finished writing, headlining my thoughts with the phrase "Oyashiro's Curse," a blond woman came to my study desk. She leaned over and scanned my open notebook with her sleepy brown eyes. When I saw her, I drew back with an audible gasp. She had come out of nowhere!

"I'm sorry," the lady said, taking a step backward and laughing good-naturedly. "Did I startle you? Oh and just out of curiosity, are you Shion Sonozaki?"

I picked up the notebook and held it to my chest defensively. "Are you a friend of Mion?" I demanded.

"Something like that," said the young woman with a hazy smile. She looked totally out of it. "But Mion doesn't wear such sexy outfits, or take such good care of her hair. Haha, excuse me. I am Miyo Takano. You can call me Miyo if you want, Shion-chan."

Aggravated, I stood up to leave. This woman may seem as high as a pothead, I thought, but she could be dangerous. After all, she sneaked a look at my secret notebook. Even if she wasn't dangerous, the blond simply annoyed me. I mean, where did she get off calling me chan?!

"Are you mad?" asked Takano, fixing a button on her sage-green, button-up blouse. "Mm, that's too bad. I was hoping we could be friends."

"Look, forget what you saw!" I snapped at her, hugging the notebook. "This is… like a fantasy of mine."

Takano folded her arms and stood by the library window. She began speaking abruptly, but kept that spacey tone in her dainty voice. "The string of freak deaths known as 'The Curse of Oyashiro'… they may seem separate, but they were definitely committed by the same will. Each year, someone dies via the Curse of Oyashiro. A second person disappears, offered as a sacrifice. The guardian god of the village is said to be the type that demands sacrifices. There are many people here who still believe in Oyashiro-sama." Suddenly, she sounded like an expert on the history of Hinamizawa.

"I know someone dies every year," I considered, "but why would they need someone to disappear?"

When she turned to me, Takano still looked a bit zoned out, but she was smiling like she was talking about a favorite naughty habit. "Well," she told me, "they need the same number of sacrifices as the number of deaths. That's part of the old folklore."

***Sacrificial Victims***

At worst, Takano could be an agent operating on orders to silence me. At best, she could be a curious foreigner who would help me in my quest for the truth. Most realistically, she seemed like a social scientist or a historian—the type that gets so excited over their research, they come off as distant and creepy to other people. I decided it would be worth a try to get more information from her, so I rediscovered my manners and formally introduced myself with a bow. Then I offered to walk with Takano back to her car, since she was preparing to leave anyway. Right outside the library, though, she hesitated. I sat on a brick border of some hedges, waiting for her to speak.

"I'm researching the secret history of Hinamizawa," Takano said at last. "It's a dark history. Before the Meiji Era, this village used to be called Onigafuchi, meaning Demon Abyss or Demon Depths. You might have an idea of what I'm talking about when I say 'dark history.' I mean the history of those claiming to be descendants of man-eating monsters called demons or ogres."

I remembered Oryo talking about demon blood in our family. "I know some of the folklore," I remarked.

"Do you know the legends about the half-ogre, half-humans? They would sometimes descend from the mountains to kidnap and feast on the humans of the village. Their history is intertwined with that of the god Oyashiro. The legends are very specific about how humans should be eaten and how sacrifices should be killed. The half-ogres strapped the victims down and pulled out their intestines as if gutting a fish. They washed those guts in the river before eating them."

Wait a minute, I thought. Tearing up a victim. Sending impurities afloat in the river. This was familiar.

"That's where the festival of Watanagashi comes from," Takano continued. "Did you know, some old villagers use this character, 腸, for 'wata' instead of the correct 'wata' character, 綿. Even though they sound the same, the older 'wata' means 'innards' while the newer character means 'cotton.'"

Takano produced a dark, thick, but medium-sized notebook. "These are some of my research papers," she stated. "I'll let you borrow it if you like. I hope you take notice of my paper about the Onigafuchi Swamp just north of town. The sacrificial ceremony for Oyashiro-sama requires drowning the victim in the Onigafuchi Swamp." She looked at me knowingly. "They say that swamp is bottomless. Who knows what someone could hide there?"

I realized the implication at once, and a feeling of cold terror crept over me. Takano was interested in the mysterious deaths as well as the history of Hinamizawa. Furthermore, she had given me a hint about her own theories. The bodies of the vanished victims could be rotting at the bottom of the Onigafuchi Swamp. I wondered if Satoshi's body was there too. Hot rage replaced the icy fear.

Thanking her for the borrowed research, I said goodbye to Miyo Takano. I headed home right away to read the woman's research and figure out what to do next. Just as I settled down to start reading, however, the door alarm rang.

"Is that you, Kasai?" I asked, approaching the apartment door.

"No. It's me." It was Mion's voice.


	8. Naibu no Kaibutsu: The Monster Inside

***Haruka***

Thanking her for the borrowed research, I said goodbye to Miyo Takano. I headed home right away to read the woman's research and figure out what to do next. Just as I settled down to start reading, however, the door alarm rang.

"Is that you, Kasai?" I asked, approaching the apartment door.

"No. It's me." It was Mion's voice.

How was I supposed to feel when a family member who betrayed and tortured me just stopped by for a visit? Anyone would feel rage. I hadn't spoken to Mion since the night of my denailing, and I honestly hated her. If only I could invite her in and beat her up! But I remembered that Mion knew kenjutsu and a little bit of jujutsu. There was no way I could beat her if she fought back.

Perhaps not beating up my sister was best, I thought, since it would be the equivalent of declaring war on the Sonozaki family. Anxiety mixed with my resentment: two flavors, like chocolate and peanut butter, which went well together but were usually unhealthy. In order to avoid more punishment from Oryo or drama from the clan, I needed to leave Mion untouched.

Fine then, I thought. I would simply let her say what she wanted to say, make a quick cup of tea, and politely ask her to be on her way. It would be a short visit. I opened the door. Mion stood there looking lovely but anxious in her pale-colored country dress and boyish, bronze-colored vest. She wore her hair in a single long ponytail: a practical hairstyle for a girl so physically active. I attempted to smile, muttered a welcome, and headed to the kitchen to make tea.

In a moment, Mion and I were sitting at the dining table across from each other. Mion maintained proper posture, glancing this way and that, and taking occasional sips of the green tea in front of her. Meanwhile, I leaned forward, staring at the tabletop, letting loose strands of my hair fall over my face and hide my grim expression. I could not bring myself to smile or make eye contact.

"You have a nice apartment," Mion broke the silence. "So… um… how are things going?"

She wanted to pretend like nothing had happened? Fine; I decided to play along.

"In August I'll be starting a new school here in Okinomiya. The place looks boring. I'll still go…"

As my voice trailed off, losing its fake cheer, Mion looked down and lowered her brows with worry. She had realized that fake conversation would not work. She hesitated before saying anything else.

"Hey… are your nails healing alright?"

She would dare to ask me that, with that stupid, apologetic look on her stupid country face?!

"The wounds have finally all closed up." I managed to muster a little more fake politeness. "But they'll still be messed up for months. I don't want to let anyone see them."

Mion whispered earnestly, "Shion… I'm sorry."

She had to be trolling me! She was baiting me, trying to get me to betray my rage! No can do, Mion, I thought. I happened to be great at sarcasm. Yes, so I would keep talking as if Mion hadn't said the most preposterous thing she could possibly say.

"There's no need to apologize. You were just doing your duty as heiress. I don't blame you at all." I closed my eyes and put on a fake smile. With cheery irony, I announced, "Okay! What's done is done! I accept your apology!"

"Will you really forgive me?" asked my dense twin, not picking up on the irony. "I really am sorry. And I'm also sorry… you can't be with Satoshi. You… really liked him, huh?"

"Well," I said while dripping sarcasm, "yeah, you know, since I kinda declared my love for him in front of everybody! Haha!"

Mion finally picked up on the irony and stood up out of her chair. "Grandma truly thought you took responsibility for that," she stated emphatically. "After she saw it hurt you so much, she really forgave you. But now… now… I wonder where Satoshi is."

How ridiculous. Of course Mion knew what happened to Satoshi. She was the heir of the Sonozaki family, who had undoubtedly kidnapped and murdered Satoshi. By saying she wondered where he was, Mion broke down the fragile walls of my mental stability. I don't remember what happened next because apparently I switched to being Haruka. Mion told me what happened later, but I still have no memory of actually doing what I did.

Seeing the savage glare on my—Haruka's—face, Mion chuckled nervously. "Sorry, Shion, but I really don't know what happened to Satoshi."

"You're lying." Haruka's whisper was vicious but contained.

"It's the truth!" insisted Mion. "Grandma doesn't know anything about it either."

Haruka raised her voice. "YOU'RE LYING! You're lying, lying, lying!"

Haruka leaped out of her chair and pounced on Mion. Going down so easily, Mion must have seen an attack coming, but for some reason she chose not to react. Haruka's hands quickly found her throat and got a good, strong grip. I said I didn't remember any of this, but I do sometimes experience the memories in my dreams. In a dream, I remember the way I gripped my sister's neck. I remembered enjoying the fact that she was helpless. I remember wanting to choke her till her neck broke. But Haruka didn't want to instantly strangle Mion. She wanted to make sure Mion heard my words.

"You 'spirited' Satoshi away!" Haruka roared. "You and the Sonozaki family!" She tightened her grip, blocking Mion's airway. "You're all guilty! All of you!" Haruka squeezed with all her strength. "Give me back my Satoshi-kun!"

With only seconds left to live, Mion tried to say something, but could not speak. She lifted her left arm, as it spasmed from lack of oxygen, and tried to grab Haruka's wrist. At that moment, Haruka—or I—must have seen the scars on Mion's left hand.

My personalities switched abruptly, and I was back to being Shion. I found that my heart was racing, I was on top of Mion, and my hands had just released their hold on her throat. I sat up on my knees, dazed and confused. Meanwhile, Mion gasped for air, lying on her back on the floor, with tears falling from her beryl-blue eyes. Oh god, I thought; what if I had actually killer her?!

Before I could begin to process what had happened, I looked again at Mion's hand, and finally understood. She had three ugly patches of pink scar tissue in place of three of her nails: pinky, ring finger, and middle finger. Her wound was identical to mine. I gaped at her, open-mouthed.

"It was too cruel!" Mion sobbed. "Making you alone rip out your nails! Why do such bad things always happen to you, Shion? We're twins, so why is everything so unfair? Before you were brought to the underground chamber, I yelled at Grandma about this. I wanted her to leave you and Satoshi alone! She said she would, if only you took her punishment. I told her I wanted the punishment, then, too. So after you left, I denailed myself too! Grandma was satisfied. Everything should have been alright for you both after that. But then… Satoshi disappeared!"

My sister lay on the floor, crying freely. Between sobs, she still had to gasp for breath. Her eyes were shut tightly, like she couldn't stand to see any more cruelty. This was the first time I had ever seen Mion act so vulnerable in front of me. Instinctive empathy took over—of course I still cared about my sister. Of course I shouldn't kill her. Of course I should let her speak.

"Please believe me, Shion!" she exclaimed desperately. "I really don't know why Satoshi disappeared!"

Looking at Mion's sincere, tear-stained face and mutilated, scarred hands had a strong effect on me. I made up my mind. In my head, I told my demon—Haruka—that we were all going to believe Mion. For as long as I lived, I would hate the Sonozaki family. But it was hard to imagine truly hating Mion. I imagined how much pain she must feel, being so naturally honest, but always being pressured and forced into doing terrible things in the name of the family. I would forgive Mion. I would also seal away my memories of Satoshi deep inside my heart. Playing detective would end as well. If I stopped myself from thinking about Satoshi and the crimes my family may have committed, I could move past this pain, while still loving my sister.

I leaned over and cradled Mion's head in my arms. "I'm sorry, Mion," I said gently. "I'm sorry you had to live through the same thing I did. Your nails… well… I know it must have hurt."

"It must have been much worse for you," Mion cried.

I laid my head against hers and held her close. I stroked her face, wiping the tears away. No more words were needed. We were twins. We would always feel the same pain. We would always be together.

***Keiichi Maebara***

A year passed relatively peacefully after that. I continued to suffer from PTSD, and my multiple personalities surfaced from time to time, but Haruka did not return. I buried my bitterness and devoted myself to my new school, but the feelings of the previous year silently gnawed away at me deep down. I made a few acquaintances at school, but I could talk to none of them about the things that happened to me. That's why I was glad to have Mion. She came over often, and we chatted, teased, competed, and shared with each other as if nothing had happened between us. Sometimes I would feel hatred toward her, like after a flashback, but I quickly reminded myself that I had forgiven Mion.

The catalyst that got my tragic story moving again, in May 1983, was Keiichi Maebara. I heard his name from Mion, who went to school with him and had an enormous crush on him. I met the boy in town one day when I went grocery shopping. Hinamizawa was pretty in the late spring, and the produce sold there was much higher quality than the stuff in the Okinomiya Market. So I decided to acquire my groceries in my sister's neck of the woods.

On the way out of the Market, I accidentally knocked over a motorcycle that had been illegally parked right by the doors. The owner of the bike, along with his two pals, surrounded me and yelled at me in a dialect I could barely understand. Were they the same three from last June? The déjà vu nearly overwhelmed me—this had happened before—but I managed to keep my head in the game.

Just as I reached to my large back pocket for my Taser, a boy approached us and shouted, "Hey, stop!" His back faced the setting sun, so at first all I could see was a silhouette. For a moment—just a tiny, frozen moment—I hoped that Satoshi had returned. I hoped he had come to my rescue again. As the boy approached, however, the shade of the buildings revealed him. The boy was not Satoshi. He had a similar height, build, and face shape, but his hair was deep umber and his eyes were dark greyish black. His voice was deeper too. Still, though… in some ways he was very similar to Satoshi.

"Are you ok, Mion?" the boy asked after he had called help and the bikers had cleared out. "You should be fine now. I'll pretend that I didn't see you looking like you were about to cry. Come on, cheer up!"

Then the boy, Keiichi, extended his right arm toward me. He gave me an innocent, affectionate pat on the head. That little gesture, however, left me stunned and speechless. Satoshi had patted me that way too, ruffling my hair briefly and smiling. How was I supposed to handle the sudden flood of thoughts about my dear Satoshi? I was so confused and depressed that I forgot to tell Keiichi I was not Mion.

Despite myself, I was curious about Keiichi. Because I had nothing better to do, and because I wanted to know about this mysterious transfer student, I met with Keiichi a few more times. One day he came to Angel Mort, but we hardly talked about anything because he refused to believe that I wasn't Mion. He thought that Mion's twin sister was just a fantasy.

A few days later, Mion came over to hang out. She told me a lot about Keiichi, and though I teased her, I listened to everything she said. My sister definitely had a crush on that boy. I could tell because she worried about what he might think incessantly. She told me about how she went to that toy store with her classmates, and how Keiichi won a porcelain doll in a game tournament. Instead of offering it to Mion, he gave the doll to Rena Ryuugu, who obviously seemed like more of a girl than Mion.

"I want to do it over!" Mion exclaimed despondently. "I want to go back to the time when I first met Keii-chan! I would make him see me as a girl, too!"

"Onee, I'm sure you're overreacting," I assured my sister. "You have all the time in the world to change things. It's not like you and Keiichi even had a real fight, right? Just be yourself and hit on him naturally. Oh yeah, and don't forget to put that girl, Rena, in her place!"

I tried to sound upbeat and encouraging, but Mion just became more anxious.

"You're right," she said worriedly; "Rena is definitely really cute! I have a rival…"

"You've got to move fast, then," I said, beginning to tease her again. "Rivals are great for getting you to make your move and stake your claim! Hmm, maybe I should be another rival. I've learned a lot at school about what guys think is cute. I smile sweetly at the right times, and other times reel them in with a few adorable tears. I've got the model for 'moe' memorized. I think I'll try it on Keiichi… maybe the two of us should race for his affections…"

"No way!" cried Mion, never one to be able to pick up on a joke. "Absolutely not! If you seriously try to get Keiichi, I'll kick you out of Hinamizawa. Don't ever come to my school!"

I smiled at my enthusiastic sister, panicking in response to my teasing. How happy she must be, I thought. And I was happy for her, too… and yet, I envied Mion for having this normal, slightly silly young romance. As for me, those days were over. Satoshi was dead. I couldn't look at other boys. So I had no special person in my life. Something else also occurred to me: nobody would object to seeing Mion with Kei-chan. Even if they were to fall deeply in love, nobody would punish them for it.

"I mustn't be jealous for that," I told myself. "I mustn't feel envy. I mustn't wish punishment upon those two just because of the things that happened to me."

The last thing I wanted to do was resent my only sister. But she kept making me think of Satoshi. And she kept unintentionally parading her privilege in front of me. How was I supposed to stay stable? Soon, the monster within me would wake again.


	9. Omatsuri: The Festival

***"Someone is Always Watching You"***

Those same three biker thugs from last month found out where I worked. They came to harass me a week or so after meeting that new boy. Speak of the devil, Keiichi appeared just when I got off work. The brave but foolish boy tried to defend me and almost ended up getting beaten to a pulp by the bikers.

Finally, though, a small crowd of witnesses—Hinamizawa's helpful citizens—gathered around. The biker thugs got spooked and hurried away. Keiichi said he came to return the bento box and thank me for the lunch I made. Since I had made no such lunch, I assumed Mion must have done it.

Oh, I thought, so that's it. The few times I had met Keiichi, he either flirted stupidly or acted flustered and shy. I figured he must like me. When he mentioned Mion's lunch, I realized that it probably wasn't me that Keiichi really liked. I was sure he fancied my sister. And after all, if he insisted on believing I was Mion, I should make him like "Mion" more. I decided to flirt because I had a twisted sense of humor and enjoyed teasing Mion. Of course, I wasn't being serious at all. I would never dream of trying to steal Keiichi from Mion. I had long since lost interest in boys. Satoshi would remain my only love.

The two of us were walking down Hinamizawa's Main Street, where the market and many small shops gave way to a few bakeries and specialty cooking stores.

"It kind of feels like we're on a date," I said sweetly, hugging Keiichi's arm to my chest.

The boy didn't seem displeased, but he stopped walking, hesitating and stammering.

"You know," I told him with a (falsely) innocent smile, "I think I understand why my sister likes you so much. What's wrong? Can't I have a little crush on you too?"

Keiichi blushed. "Uh, look, Mion," he managed at last. "You're right; you should never judge a person by how they look. And I now understand that you have a girly side too, and it's really cute. So there's no need to pretend to be this twin sister that you made up."

At that moment, as planned, we passed in front of the bakery. That was the place my sister had started working at recently. Mion stood outside, waving goodbye to a couple of customers, when she saw me arm-in-arm with Keiichi. The unfortunate boy lost his cool entirely, pointing, staring, and saying he couldn't believe we were really twins. Mion glared daggers at me, and I silently laughed to myself. That was how Keiichi discovered my identity.

During that short month of June 1983, I frequently met with Mion, Keiichi, Rika Furude, Satoko Hojo, and Rena Ryuugu. We all enjoyed ourselves. Mion jealously guarded Keiichi from my insincere attempts to attract him. However, as Watanagashi drew close, I happened upon a few odd, alarming experiences. One day it happened when Mion and I were arguing over Keiichi. Tired of teasing, I gave up, and prepared to bike home on my own. When Keiichi said goodbye, he patted my head again, and looked for all the world like a darker version of Satoshi.

Not wanting to dwell on those memories, I hurried away. Leaving Mion and Keiichi in the forested park, I ran until I met with one of the familiar dirt roads of Hinamizawa. As I sped along, I heard the sound of someone stepping onto the road several paces behind me. Turning and looking, I saw nobody at all. However, I distinctly felt the presence of another person. The breeze picked up and made the low-hanging roadside branches shake and hiss. I stood there, knowing something was watching me.

All I could think of was Satoshi. It had to be his spirit watching me. Overall, my worldview tended to be atheistic, but I kept my culture's traditional view that the spirits of the dead persisted in some form, in some world, after death. It was respectful and proper to pray to the deceased, at least on some occasions. Popular culture, of course, did not widely believe in ghosts, but to me it made sense that sometimes the spirit of a friend or family member might appear to some people. Even if it was a baseless delusion, though, I would have believed it. Satoshi's spirit was following me.

Thinking of the golden-haired boy brought tears to my eyes. I suddenly felt guilty for flirting with Keiichi.

"I'm sorry, Satoshi-kun," I thought, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry! I promise I haven't forgotten about you! I still remember everything. My life without you is lonely and colorless. It's worthless without you." I suddenly recalled Keiichi smiling and patting my head. "No," I prayed, shaking my head, "that boy isn't warm like you! I don't like him at all! He's an insensitive jerk and I hate him. Satoshi-kun. Oh, Satoshi-kun! Where are you? Where did you go? Are you really dead? Even if you are…" A faint, weak smile crossed my face. "Satoshi, you're with me now, watching me."

I suddenly realized that I was weeping fit for a funeral. My body leaned against a streetlight pole, and my hands covered my face. Quickly, I tried to regain composure.

***Watanagashi 1983***

On June 19th, Hinamizawa celebrated Watanagashi once again. This time, I thought attending the festival might actually be diverting. I had learned some interesting facts from Miss Takano and her research; attending the festival could lead to yet more discoveries. For an example, the tradition of tearing cotton to float in the stream only started eighty to a hundred years ago. Before that, Watanagashi celebrated the gutting and eating of a human sacrifice. They would wash the innards in the stream and let the inedible parts float away.

The most surprising thing about this horrid history is that it happened until relatively recently. It made me wonder how many of Hinamizawa's old, violent traditions were still celebrated. The tools in my family's torture shrine hadn't looked rusted to me, and the denailing device was still used. In the back of my mind, I was still playing detective. I wanted to find out anything I could about the deaths and the disappearances that happened on Watanagashi for the last four years. I might find a clue about something at the festival. I might hear some actual solid evidence against the Sonozaki or Kimiyoshi families.

That evening, I was supposed to meet up with the others in front of the Furude Shrine. Although things started out awkwardly, I had come to be friends with Shion's classmates: Rena, Rika, Satoko, and Keiichi. They all acknowledged me as a different from Mion but neither inferior nor superior to her. In contrast with my dark reasons for attending the festival, I also just wanted to see my friends. This year, ten-year-old Rika would give her first performance as the Furude Miko, or Shrine Maiden. I wanted to sincerely congratulate her and encourage her to think differently than the other two Chief Families.

Lost in thought, and hurrying to see my friends, I accidentally bumped into someone. I ran straight into the tough body of a notably tall, buff man. My face hit his elbow and I drew back. I apologized for my carelessness and looked down, trying to ignore the soreness of my face.

"Oh! Shion-chan!"

That voice sounded familiar. I looked up and saw Miyo Takano standing next to the large man. She looked as eccentric as ever. She carried a hefty purse that she couldn't possibly just need for a night out. Her blond hair looked slightly raggedy and her chestnut eyes still looked zoned out. The researcher wore a pale lilac polo, olive green jacket, and long, black pants.

I started to greet Takano, when the well-built man beside her stepped forward to shake my hand. In contrast to the burly body, this fellow's face was kind, smiling, and almost inane. He wore glasses and his hands were too strong-yet-soft to make him any kind of manual laborer.

"I believe this is the first time we've met," he said politely. "My name is Tomitake. You're Mion's twin sister, right? I've heard all about you."

"You must be that famous photographer," I said kindly, shaking his hand. Mion had mentioned him.

"You might have the wrong idea," the burly photographer said humbly. "My works aren't popular at all."

"You haven't shown up at the library in a long time," Takano addressed me suddenly. "I wanted to collaborate with you, someone who might help with my research."

She sounded disappointed. To be honest, she annoyed me. She was practically demanding for me to help her with research, without having any idea of my personal life. I had a reason for not going to the library. The more I played detective, uncovering the dark history of the village, the more I began to suspect the Three Great Families of crimes. If Oryo or even old man Kimiyoshi knew that I seriously suspected them, I might be killed. To them, it would only be a matter of finishing what they started: killing the twin who wasn't the heir. Still, I politely told Takano that I might head to the library next time I felt up to it.

"I should go," I told my two acquaintances. "I heard the drum in the Shrine. That means it's almost time for little Rika's dance. You're going to watch it too, aren't you?"

Takano exchanged a nervous look with Tomitake, and then spoke. "Actually… we're going to explore the ritual tool shed."

She meant the small Shrine now used as the Furude storehouse. Despite the fact that it wasn't currently used for worship, the shed was rumored to enshrine a statue of Oyashiro. Since the little building contained such a religiously valuable item, nobody was allowed to see the inside. However, the ritual tool shed was not privately owned by the Furude family, so they would be hard-pressed to sue for trespassing. I had already tried to enter once but everything was locked. I told Tomitake and Takano that the old place was padlocked.

"Ah," said Takano, dreamily looking over at Tomitake, "but you see, Mr. Jirou here is a very capable and surprising man. …Come along with us if you feel like it. This might be your only chance."

With those mysterious words, Takano turned her back and walked away, with Tomitake following faithfully. It took me a moment to realize what that eccentric researcher meant… but it had to be lock-picking. Jirou Tomitake must be able to pick into a lock. Those two idiots truly intended to trespass. Should I stop them? If they messed anything up, the village leaders would know. They might even try to punish or eliminate the young couple.

I decided I wasn't going to let that happen. Instead, I would accompany Tomitake and Takano to the ritual tool shed. If I watched them, and made certain they didn't break or steal anything, nobody could complain. There was a plus for me as well: I might be able to find out something about how Satoshi was killed. The religion and folklore of Oyashiro definitely had connections with the doings of the Three Great Families. For once, I could play detective again and look for clues.

But, to go alone… I was scared. It wasn't just that I was a coward, though. I wanted to bring along a trusted companion who could remain coolheaded and would know how to play along with me if we were caught. I missed Satoshi desperately. He would have never ratted me out like I was afraid Mion might. Even Satoko or Rena might tell Mion about it. There had to be a way to ensure our safety, even in the event that the savage Sonozakis discovered our trespassing. Of course—the only way was to appeal to Mion. Mion was the Sonozaki heir, and she also happened to be in love with Keiichi. So, Keiichi, then. All I had to do was use Keiichi. All I had to do was bring him with me.

***Breaking In***

I hurried through the crowds of people. All were on their way through the torii and up the three terraces to the platform in front of the Furude Shrine's haiden. There, Rika would perform. I found Keiichi near the back of the crowd, jumping up and down trying to see the start of the performance. I took his hand and urged him to come along. He protested, so I quickly lied about going to somewhere with a better view. I thought Keiichi would get the picture and sneak along with me once he realized that we were heading away from the main Shrine area. However, Keiichi was a bit dense. When we had walked through the woods at a quick pace for five whole minutes, he finally hesitated.

"What's this place that has a better view of Rika's dance?" he asked, smiling naively.

"You took that seriously?"

"Then why did you lead me all the way out here?"

"Just come on," I told him. "We're almost there."

A minute or two later, Keiichi and I emerged from the woods. We entered the small clearing around the tiny, unused shrine. Takano and Tomitake were already there. The latter was picking apart the lock while the former stood guard. I startled them by calling out to them, but when we got close, Takano smiled. It looked like she had been eagerly expecting us.

"Are two out on a date?" Tomitake asked laughingly.

"No! This isn't a date!" Keiichi spat back at him.

I pretended to be stern like Mion. "What about you, Mr. Tomitake? Why are you two out so late? It looked to me like you were picking the lock."

"Well, there's no helping it now," Tomitake chuckled, fidgeting with his tools. "You both got me. Miss Takano and I are trying to break into the shed. It's not on Furude property, but still. Probably best if nobody knows about this."

If they had already gone this far, I thought, then nothing I said could stop them. Even still, I didn't want to see the people around me walk into danger without knowing or caring. My three companions were ignorant of the threat of the Three Great Families. Even though the Furude family was kinder than the other two, a Furude might also stoop to crime if they believed the Family had been insulted. My companions, unlike me, were not driven by purpose to find out the village's dark secrets. It made sense for me to break in, looking for clues about Satoshi, but surely it would only be seen as disrespect if the others entered so unknowingly. While I intended to protect these three—with Keiichi acting as insurance—there was still a chance something could go wrong. In case of such an event, all people present should be warned. I had done my research on this shed. It was time to tell everyone.

"You know, I heard that's where they keep the tools for their rituals," I said seriously. "Rituals in Hinamizawa used to be very brutal. So, listen. No one is allowed inside this shrine except the Furude family—and maybe a small, select group of people." All those who plan the mysterious deaths, I thought. "Anyway, unless you're a Furude family member or someone very close to them, it's believed that you will bring impurities into the shrine."

Keiichi caught on for once. "If that's the case," he said, "then we should definitely not go in there."

The adults did not pay any attention to the warning. Tomitake finished opening the lock and Takano chuckled. They opened the double doors of the old shrine. Just as Takano lit up her lantern, I decided. _Let them see._ We were already here, so we might as well all participate. Let Tomitake and Takano see the shrine—nothing would stop them anyway. And let me see it—I had some important clues for which to search. And let Keiichi see, too. Didn't he deserve to know what was going on? Didn't he deserve to know why I dragged him out here? Wasn't it wrong to keep a friend ignorant of the danger? Plus, I suddenly realized that nobody would continue my investigations if the Sonozaki family ever eliminated me. What if Keiichi were to learn about them? Could he carry on if I failed? He wouldn't know where to start, though, if I didn't show him something extreme.

"You must be curious," I urged Keiichi. "Let's go inside, too."

"Wouldn't that be disrespectful?" Keiichi asked concernedly.

"Well," I told him honestly, "since I'm a Sonozaki family member, I already have a pretty good idea of what's being kept in here. It's nothing holy. Trust me. Besides, it's something I really want you to see."

Tomitake called over to us while taking a seat in front of the doors. He said he was going to keep lookout while Takano went and looked for her research. Both of them invited us once again. Keiichi finally gave in, begrudging telling us "fine, whatever" and "I'm leaving if it's boring." Thus, Takano, Keiichi, and I entered the ritual tools shed. Tomitake closed the doors behind us. It took a moment before my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting produced by Takano's lantern.


	10. Oni no Ketsumyaku: Bloodline of Demons

***The Ritual Tool Shed***.

The inside of the shed looked about the same as I had imagined it before: full of the same strange and gruesome blades and tools that I had seen in my family's underground chamber. Chains hung from the ceiling. Ropes and leather restraints lay in a bucket in one corner. A gigantic pincer-tool hung on the wall. Hanging next to it was something resembling a meat beater with cruelly sharp tips. Two weapons like sickles were propped up to the left of the offering table. I also noticed a long table for victim's bodies, an Iron Maiden shaped like a demon, and a terrifying, multi-spiked iron ball on a chain.

In spite of this, my impression of the shrine was that it was nicer looking than my family's underground chamber. A thin layer of dust covered most of the weapons. The other relatively "nice" thing about this shrine was that it featured an amazing, eight-feet-tall bronze statue of Oyashiro. In this image, compared with the idol in the underground chamber, Oyashiro looked kind instead of bizarre, regal instead of monstrous. The face was so soft-featured that I couldn't tell if the person depicted was male or female. It had a stone veil covering the top of the head and hair. The robes were gender-neutral. I entertained the thought of a female Oyashiro for a moment before remembering an obvious fact.

"Screw you, Oyashiro," I hissed silently at the statue. "If you were real… if you were really the one who 'spirited away' Satoshi… I'll never forgive that. If you're real, you are an unforgiveable god of injustice!"

Not that it mattered. Oyashiro was fictional. I wanted to look for clues about Satoshi. I didn't know how, though. What kind of evidence could I get from a place like this? Anything, I told myself. I could look for bloodstains and collect samples. However, they would be useless unless the police agreed to perform DNA analysis. Perhaps I might find finger prints on any of these tools. Then again, how would I collect the prints without my kit? There might be papers or documents somewhere—maybe even a list of victims! I kept searching. Meanwhile, Takano informed Keiichi about the truth behind Wataganashi and some of the folklore about Oyashiro.

"All of the people of this village have some demon blood in their veins," the researcher went on in her woozy voice. "It's said that, every now and then, this Man-eating Demon Blood awakens inside them. It compels villagers to 'spirit people away.'"

"Spirit away?" repeated Keiichi, unfamiliar with the terminology.

"The victims disappear," explained Takano. "And in the old days, they were used as sacrifices to Oyashiro. Watanagashi celebrates the dissection, devouring, and savoring the victim's flesh. Yes, it's scary when you think about it. According to my research, the hoe that Rika uses in her dance is actually a tool for ripping open a human stomach."

As I listened with one ear, I thought about that adorable little Rika and I wondered how she could handle the weight of the hoe she wielded. I wondered if she knew about that tool's original use. What exactly was Takana's deal? Did she suspect the Three Great Families for modern crimes, or was she just an obsessive researcher? How could she talk so graphically and in such a cheery, droll tone? I started to tone her out and keep searching for anything that might be evidence.

Then I heard a few rapid footsteps behind me—I definitely, distinctively heard them. When I whirled around, I saw nothing, and everyone else… they hadn't reacted. Could only I hear that sound?

Takano prattled to Keiichi: "With enough weight, it would only take a single strike to kill someone with one of these tools. But remember, the people were part demon. The shrine dance was created to show the way to cut up the victim while keeping him _alive_ as long as possible. In Ancient Rome, there was a method of execution…"

The footsteps started again, but I couldn't tell the direction from which they came. The sounds were loud and distinct. Why—how—could Takano and Keiichi not hear this?

"Satoshi-kun!" I whispered, as if sensing his presence from this ghost. "Satoshi-kun!"

Takano kept talking. "Now, you may think a person would die right away from having their intestines removed. However, when it was done carefully, the Ancients could remove most of the innards while keeping the victim fully conscious!"

"You're Satoshi," I whispered to the ghost. "Aren't you?"

The footsteps thundered all around me, echoing on the walls. It didn't feel like Satoshi anymore. Why was the spirit running around? Out of fear, or anger? I definitely sensed anger. Why?

"You're not Satoshi-kun!" I whispered hoarsely.

Suddenly I felt more afraid than I had of anything in my life. What was this following me? A chill shook my spine. Another running foot slammed against the wooden floor. The resulting (violent) startle reaction sent me jumping forward and right into Keiichi. To be honest, I clung to him like a little girl.

Takano was just saying, "…much more horrifying than actually painful. The method used in the village up until a hundred years ago is almost identical to the Roman method."

Keiichi exchanged glances with me to make sure I was alright. The footsteps stopped abruptly.

"Well," asked Takano, "how is it? Knowing Hinamizawa's dark secrets?"

"Even if that happened the past," said Keiichi bravely, "it has nothing to do with villagers today."

"Oh, Keiichi-kun," said Takano, looking awake for once. "It's too bad. You liked Hinamizawa, didn't you?"

Hearing that brought me out of my trembling state and back into reality. It sounded like Miss Takano had developed the same suspicion as me.

"Hang on, Miss Takano," I said, back in the game. "Do you think some of those old customs could still be going on today? Is that what you're really researching?"

Takano smiled by way of answer. "I only told you about this, Shion, because I figured you would understand. If anybody else in the village heard it, they would call it blasphemy and gang up on me. It's best if both of you keep this a secret." She took a light, sarcastic air. "If they found out, I might be 'Cursed by Oyashiro,' or I might become this year's Watanagashi sacrifice."

Just then, Tomitake opened the door. The performance down at the Furude Shrine had ended, he reported. We all stepped out of the shed and Tomitake closed the doors. He told us he and Takano were going to the stream to watch the cotton drifting.

I sat on the stone steps and chatted with Keiichi for a while. As expected, he said he didn't hear any strange noise while inside the Shrine. In other words, I must have experienced a hallucination. There was no time to dwell on this, however, because I heard Mion and our friends coming up through the woods. I didn't want Mion to find me alone with Keiichi, so I told the boy goodnight and hurried away.

***Mysterious Deaths Year Five***

That night, I agreed to stay with Mion at the main estate (just this once). She wanted me to attend "the family dinner" too, which meant, among the Three Great Families, there would be a lot of drinking, gossiping, flirting, and maybe fighting (if my mother wanted a kendo bout). Torturers and abusers didn't make for good party companions, yet I was supposed to pretend to like them. Screw that. Dressing up nicely, catching up with old man Kimiyoshi, and showing gratitude? No. That was all up to Mion.

Well, at least there were some perks to being the inferior child. Since I wasn't representing the family, nobody cared if I drank alcohol at sixteen. They didn't even care if I got completely drunk, which is what I did that night. I wanted to forget about the fact pressing on my mind: something was wrong with me. Twice now, I had experienced frightening auditory hallucinations. Lately, my mind was swung rather rapidly between moods, but none of my other personalities had come out in a while. So was this a new problem, something even worse than having Dissociative Identity Disorder? I didn't want to think about it. So, after getting black-out drunk on sake, I passed out in the main dining area.

My first thought as I woke up was the strange knowledge that someone had bothered to move me onto a futon. How nice of Mion, I thought. Looking up, I saw that it was quarter after two in the morning. I heard voices from the next room over. I decided to walk out into the hall, figure out what room they were in, and tell them to be quiet. I was naturally quite cranky, developing my first hangover.

As I treaded lightly (and clumsily) down the hall, the words became vaguely clear. Oryo was speaking. I stopped moving and listened…

"They deserved it. The young 'uns went too far." That was definitely Oryo's voice.

"Of course. They incited the wrath of Oyashiro-sama." Was that Mion? "It just can't be helped."

"The cops are still checking it out, but there's no mistake about it."

"Yes, you're right." Mion sounded pious. "It must be Miss Takano."

The pieces came together in my mind. The Curse of Oyashiro had struck for the fifth year in a row, and this time Takano was the victim. Then, why were Oryo and Mion talking about Takano inciting Oyashiro's wrath? Even when the evidence was placed before me like this, I didn't want to believe it. I especially didn't want to believe Mion had anything to do with killing people, but what was I supposed to believe in such a situation?

Wait, I thought, and my knees began to tremble. If Oryo Sonozaki or someone close to her ordered this killing… then they must have known about Takano entering the ritual tool shed. That meant I was in big trouble, too. Who could have seen us? Mion? But—my mind raced wildly—I had planned ahead for something like this. Keiichi was supposed to be my insurance. But Keiichi wasn't here… and if Mion was capable of killing, I was fair game for being 'Spirited Away' by her.

The phone rang.

Such a commonplace sound should not be so terrifying, but it was. Someone would have to answer the phone. If Oryo or Mion came to pick it up, they would instantly see that I had been spying. They would see that I had learned things I was not supposed to know. I took a single quiet step toward the phone, thinking I would get to it first and lie about it waking me up.

The moment I turned, however, someone was there. A shadowy presence loomed behind me. I suddenly remembered what Rena Ryuguu had said to me that day after the baseball game. "I'm talking those footsteps that follow you everywhere. Something is always standing by your bed. Someone watches you from above in the day. I'm talking about _that_ experience." She described in more that same day. "Someone is always watching you from far away. Someone is always following close behind you. Satoshi experiences these things too. It's a sign he will be hit by Oyashiro's Curse."

I turned halfway. I saw the shadowy figure approaching. This thing that had been following me… could it be a hallucination… could it be the spirit of Satoshi… or could it possibly be Oyashiro? That wild, scared thought only stayed in my head for a brief second. Then the shadow reached out an arm and grabbed me by the nape of the neck. I was forced to my knees. Now that the figure was next to me, I could recognize it… as Mion. She stared down at me coldly. I stared back with widened, terrified eyes.

Keeping one hand at my neck, Mion picked up the phone. "Hello. Sonozaki house. This is Mion." For a moment she stayed silent, listening. Her grip was insanely strong and I kept trembling, wondering what punishment my family might have in mind for me this time. "Yes. Very well. I'll leave the decision up to you concerning the necessary countermeasures. And make sure you silence them. Yes. Alright then."

My eyes were wide. What did Mion mean by "silence them"? Had she really just ordered someone's death? Perhaps she authorized a cruel torture to keep someone silent. Either way, I felt more desperate by the minute. I prayed for the demon inside me—Haruka—to wake up and save me.

"Were you listening?" Mion asked without looking at me.

"Huh, me?" I shakily lied to try to save my life. "I didn't h-hear a thing. I—"

Mion turned back to me. She moved her hand quickly to the front of my neck and gripped it. She lifted me a few inches of the floor with just hand. She brought her face so close to mine so suddenly that I thought our heads would collide. Her teal eyes looked like those of a starving predator who had finally tasted meat.

"It's just as you heard," she said in a voice, deep and very similar to Mari's. "Mr. Tomitake and Miss Takano were struck by the Curse of Oyashiro. It is highly unfortunate for them."

"Um, _Onee_ ," I said with a breathless, petrified attempt at a laugh. "What are you talking about…?"

"Mr. Tomitake died from self-inflicted wounds to his neck," stated Mion, letting me put my feet back on the ground, but keeping her hand ready by my throat. "Miss Takano was stuffed into a drum and incinerated somewhere in the mountains. How did they die like that, you wonder? There's only one explanation. It's the Curse of Oyashiro."

Haruka answered my prayers and woke up. She grabbed my Taser and sent a strong volt directly to the back of Mion's neck. She collapsed. Haruka—or was it me?—stood trembling and panting for a few seconds.

***The Madness Begins***

It's true that Haruka's will and personality had taken dominance over my usual self. This time, though, something felt different. I, Shion, could see what I was doing as Haruka. It was like watching a movie of myself from far off. Our personalities had melded, just in that one instant of attacking my sister, enough to allow me to stay partly conscious. That's why I will refer to us as "we" whenever Haruka takes over.

"Satoshi-kun," I prayed in my head. "I finally have some evidence of the Sonozaki family being involved in the mysterious deaths. Based on what they said, they must have killed Tomitake and Takano. I am now completely convinced that the Three Great Families are responsible for Oyashiro's Curse. I will avenge you, Satoshi. And I won't let them kill me like they killed you."

"How will you protect yourself, though?" Haruka's voice barged into my head. "You can't rely on the police. Anyone could be the next target of Oyashiro's Curse. In other words, the only people who can confirm these crimes are you and the other alters. And I'm the only one of us who can bring judgement on your murderous family for what they've done. So you can leave most of it to me. The main thing you must help with is simple: just pretend to be Mion again."

"Of course. That makes perfect sense. I'll just say Shion was 'Spirited Away by the Demon,' and Mion is the only one left. But wait. Will I…?" The hair follicles on my arms and neck erupted into goosebumps because of the thought that had just occurred to me. "Will I… be able to fool Oryo? I think she sees the difference between us. For that matter, how do I keep Mion herself silent and out of the way?"

"Kill Oryo Sonozaki," ordered Haruka, "and finish killing Mion. She's only unconscious."

"I refuse to kill people who are valuable witnesses," I said, fighting Haruka down. "But… we'll go knock out the old Hag, at least. Just so she can't move while we decide what to do with Mion."

Something deserves to be said here. At this point, I had experienced two strange symptoms that seemed unconnected to my Identity Disorder. First auditory hallucinations and then a sense of growing paranoia. In my mind, everything that everyone said served to prove my fear that my family was made of killers. If I had been smarter, maybe I would have figured out that I had started to suffer from a different kind of disease entirely. But I had no way of knowing. Nobody could have known, since the existence of the Hinamizawa brain parasite was top secret. The third symptom of parasitic possession was usually irrational violent behavior toward others. However, when I knocked out Mion, I had yet to experience violent impulses except occasionally when I became Mari. I didn't want to kill anyone. As much as I hated Oryo the Monster, I didn't want to kill her either.

We silently tiptoed into the room where I had heard Oryo and Mion talking. It seemed the old Hag had gone to sleep in a futon. Even in sleep, though, her senses remained sharp. As I crept closer to the head of the futon, Oryo sat up. (Luckily, she was facing the other wall and not me.) Muttering something about the hour, the Hag must have also sensed my presence. She started to turn her body and head in my direction—and at that moment, the Taser found the back of her neck. The sickening zapping noise was followed by the thud of Oryo's body hitting the floorboards.

"Now," Haruka said, "take Mion to the underground torture chamber."


	11. Shikaeshi: Revenge

***Mion in the Dungeon***

The main entrance to the Sonozaki underground torture chamber was a steel double door located outside the house among a small patch of forest cover. It brought one down some stairs, through a heavy wooden door, and directly into the _honden_ (holy chamber) of the so-called "shrine." This was the stone room where I was tortured, while Oryo and my parents looked on complacently from the low platform on the right.

From that room, a single simple door supposedly led into the offertory chamber. However, in reality, it led to the underground dungeon. The earthen floor and walls made the place look like a giant burrow. It was a huge, round chamber with two levels. On each level were prison cells, dug into the hard ground and sealed with iron barred gates. (The _honden_ room was on the first level.)

A shortcut to the dungeon could be found by entering the door behind the household shrine in Oryo's bedroom. It opened to a passage that traveled smoothly downhill. It led to another door opening into the dungeon room's second level. I knew all this now after I had been denailed in the underground chamber. As Haruka continued to possess me, we dragged Mion down to the dungeon.

We tossed my sister into one of the cells. Her body seemed heavy, and for the first time I noticed she was an inch taller than me and several muscly pounds heavier. Still, she had a great feminine form, her chest was slightly bigger than mine, and she had that overly sincere personality that made her friends with everyone. In short, Mion was a better woman than me. This upset Haruka. She stripped Mion down to a single white slip before feeling satisfied. There. Now the heiress looked no better than a w***e in a drunken stupor.

As we closed and locked the heavy iron door to the cell, Mion started regaining consciousness. At the same time, I started to revert to Mari. The switch might have happened because Haruka was still weak from being suppressed for so long. As for Mion, she seemed to have lost the menacing voice and aura she previously possessed. Groggily, she asked what was going on. She must have known, though, as Mari turned the key in the lock and smiled smugly at her.

"What is it, Mion? You never thought that you might end up being the one locked up?"

She narrowed her eyes seriously. "I order you, as heir to the master of the Sonozaki house: release me."

Mari could tell Mion was scared. Even when she tried to look at me sternly, she looked rather pitiful. As the family head, I thought, she should try to sound a little more arrogant. Of course, even if she put the necessary effort into intimidating Mari, it would only make her look ridiculous. She was the one trapped in a cell. Yes, at last Mari had Mion at her mercy. Now was as good a time as any to start our mad detective game. Mari wanted to interrogate Mion. She wasn't ready to torture her, but she wanted to rub her powerlessness in her face. Plus, Mari genuinely wanted answers.

"Stuffing Miss Takano into a drum and burning it was pretty straightforward," Mari began. "You wanted to make her feel a lot of pain and terror. It's sort of the same with Mr. Tomitake's freak death. How did you pull that off? Is there some drug that made him tear out his throat? Or perhaps you have a mechanism of torture that makes the death look like suicide."

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Mion asked snappishly.

"It won't do any good to be defiant," Mari warned her through vicious, watchful eyes. "After going this far, I'm not going to back off easily. So let me ask you. The series of mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa known as the Curse of Oyashiro… is it a way for the Three Great Families to regain power in the village, following the dam wars?"

Mion broke eye contact and looked to her left. "I think so," she muttered.

"Why is the heir to the family being so vague about it?"

"The heir is nothing more than Grandma's public representative."

"Oh," Mari concluded coolly, "so the old Hag decides who is going to be cursed. Is that right?"

"Grandma does all the nasty stuff on her own," Mion said noncommittally. She sat on her knees in the dungeon, now looking more resigned than scared. "I just deal with public matters. I think Oryo probably has another agent who takes care of the darker tasks."

"But Takano and Tomitake had nothing to do with the dam wars," Mari reasoned. "Why curse them? Could it be, perhaps, because they broke into the ritual tool shed?"

Sitting upright abruptly, Mion demanded, "They broke into the tool shrine?!"

"Oh? I thought you knew."

Perhaps Mion truthfully had very little part in the killings, Mari and I considered. Perhaps my sister was never told why someone would be chosen as a victim. Still, she had already stated earlier than Takano and Tomitake deserved death because they invited the wrath of Oyashiro. In addition, what Mion said next cast her innocence into doubt even more. She breathlessly asserted that "of course they would be cursed" if they had really broken into the tool shed. Mari narrowed her eyes and glared coldly.

"But you know, Mion, this still doesn't add up. The rule is that each year, someone dies and someone else disappears as a sacrifice. After the foreman of the dam got cut up, nobody ever found his assistant. When the Hojo couple died, the wife's body was never found. When Priest Furude died the next year, his wife supposedly drowned herself, but again, there was no body. Then last year, Satoshi's Aunt was beaten to death and Satoshi went 'missing.' This year, two dead bodies were found. Why?"

It looked as though Mion had already thought about this and didn't want to admit the probable explanation. "I don't know for sure," she said in a hushed voice. "But… it could be that four people broke into the shrine. Two were killed, so maybe two more were Spirited Away by the Demon."

Ah, so she meant me and Keiichi would go next, just as I had feared. Mari turned and left Mion without another word. Although she clearly believed that the "curse" was deserved, and openly supported Oryo, Mion seemed ignorant of the actual process of choosing and killing a victim. The person to interrogate, next, then, would be Oryo. Haruka had moved her to the stone chamber in the underground torture chambers. She was slumped over in her wheelchair under the single bright lightbulb of the interrogation room. It was the same room in which I had been forced to tear out my fingernails a year before.

Mari felt herself slipping away, as Haruka selfishly tried to retake control. Since I had suppressed Haruka for so many years, it was no wonder she came back demanding to take over my body. I, as Shion, remained vaguely conscious. I watched myself, as Haruka, from afar. We were aware of a sense of twisted excitement almost comparable to arousal. We wanted to torment the hag. We might not kill her, but we intended to cause her great pain. Haruka kicked the old lady's wheelchair.

***Death of Oryo Sonozaki***

"Old Hag," we sang with dripping sarcasm. "Won't you kindly wake up for us, please?"

When the small old woman did not respond, we laughed. "Come on. Don't tell me you think you can get through this by pretending to be asleep. Mion already woke from the Taser and so should you."

We grabbed Oryo by her coarse, grey bun, and pulled her head backward to see her face. It looked like the face of a goblin. The hair not secured by her bun fell in dirty, scraggly strands around her ears. Her slightly open mouth was eerily toothless, her large nose reminded me of an ogre, and wrinkles covered every inch of her leathery face. But something felt "off." Oryo's eyes were partly open, revealing some white, but she clearly couldn't see or interact with her environment. Did the Taser affect her differently because she was so old? Could she already be…?

Haruka picked up a metal lighter and smiled. This method was sure to snap the Monster out of her unconscious state. We flicked the lighter on and held it just inches from Oryo's eyes. She still didn't respond. Slowly, Haruka moved the lighter closer to the old woman's face. Centimeter by centimeter, it moved, turning the skin around it red with burns. The flame made contact, and with a hissing sound and a small wisp of steam, it put out her left eye. The old Hag did not move.

"F*ck it, she's dead already," we swore.

Rage erupted inside me. It was inside Shion, Haruka, and Mari, raging like waters freshly broken free of a dam. Shion had the decency to feel some self-directed anger, since it was our fault we killed Oryo with too high of a Taser voltage. Most of the fury, though, was directed uselessly back at the old dead woman.

This wasn't fair. She couldn't just die. Not without telling us anything, thought Mari. Not without apologizing to Satoshi, thought Shion. And she could not just die without suffering, thought Haruka. This was too much to handle. Our blood felt like it was burning, our heart thundered in our ears, and vicious energy flowed through us.

Haruka grabbed the black "snake whip" where it lay curled on a hanger in the wall. It was about four feet long and an inch and a half in diameter. It felt heavier than expected, probably made of reinforced nylon cord. The two-tailed fall lash wasn't as long as that of a bullwhip but still exceeded six inches.

Without hesitating, Haruka uncurled the whip and brought it down on Oryo forcefully. The crack sound thrilled us. We reached back and lashed the old woman again. The first strike hit her head while the second slammed against her shoulder, tearing her kimono with the force. If only she had been alive to feel it… if only…

We kept going vehemently. Three, four, five, six… we lost count. The wheelchair shuddered under the weight of each lash. Every time the whip tore into Oryo's corpse, we shouted and grunted savagely. We flogged the old Hag's dead body till it was almost unrecognizable.

Finally, Haruka fell to her knees on the floor, panting. She still wasn't very physically strong. Then we heard those running footsteps begin again. They were the footsteps Rena described, accompanied by the terrifying feeling that someone or something stood behind me, watching me. Was this the third, or fourth, or was it the hundredth time? Haruka faced it more bravely than my other selves. She cried out to the spirit haunting us.

"Are you Oyashiro-sama? The one Rena experienced? Ha. HA! Idiot! Who would believe in you?!"

We threw the whip against the wall, determined to ignore the sounds of Oyashiro. We never stopped to consider it as a symptom. It was a symptom of something else besides an Identity Disorder. Haruka felt no real guilt for killing Oryo, and even now, she wanted to mutilate her further. We never thought these psychopathic acts could be a symptom either. We were so paranoid, and so sure we were right about everything, that we failed to see the warning signs.

Haruka and half-conscious Shion pulled Oryo's wheelchair out of the side room. We stood within eyesight of Mion, who was trembling in her cell. I vaguely remembered one of the scary stories the old Hag had told about this dungeon. So we asked Mion whether it was true. Was there an old well somewhere in the underground torture chambers? When Mion glared in answer, Haruka told her she could just go back to lashing "Grandma" if she didn't answer.

Obediently, Mion then indicated a cell several yards to the right of her own. Haruka stepped inside briefly and admired the huge pit, whose depth could only be guessed; the bottom was certainly not visible. We ironically asked Mion if she had ever taken a climb down there. Of course not, we sniggered, because this well was rumored to be a place to dump corpses. We started pushing Oryo's wheelchair toward that cell.

"Shion!" exclaimed Mion, abhorred. "Are you going to throw your own grandmother to her death?!"

"No," Haruka smiled. "We just want to dump her corpse."

We lifted the old Hag's face again so Mion could see. Blood on her torn kimono, burns all over her face, and oozing pink wounds where the pieces of flesh had been ripped away by repeated lashing—Mion caught only a glimpse of this before looking away and beginning to cry.

"It's too cruel," she gasped.

As Haruka began to cart the old woman's corpse away, Mion asked, "Why? Why are you doing this? Is it Satoshi? Are you trying to get revenge?"

We paused. "Hey, Mion," we said darkly. "Looking back, I think I had enough reason to kill the old Hag. It's not just because she was the one who killed Satoshi. It's not just because she abused me for years and years. It's also because she dared to lie to me when life and death were involved."

We whacked Oryo's corpse on the side of the head as hard as we could. "Didn't you lie about it too, Mion? Saying that all would be forgiven if I ripped out my fingernails? Yoshirou, Kasai, and Satoshi would be left alone. That was the deal. That's why I ripped out three nails! Shouldn't that have fixed everything? But the promise wasn't kept. Satoshi-kun was erased."

(A couple weeks after I had removed my nails, Mion had gone so far as to come see me and tell me that everything was forgiven. I had "distinguished" myself appropriately. She also said that the Sonozaki family knew nothing about what happened to Satoshi.)

"But it's true," Mion tried to tell me. "At least, I don't know anything about his disappearance."

"YOU'RE LYING!" Haruka roared, beginning to kick Oryo's corpse brutally. "You liar! You liar! You liar! Damn you, liar! Give me back my Satoshi! Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK!" Each word was accompanied by a ferocious kick.

The alcohol I had consumed just hours earlier lingered in my system, and I began to feel nauseous and get a headache. Reverting to Shion, I fell on my knees again. I struggled to make my angry, snarling breath return to normal. Finally, I succeeded. I faced Mion once more. She had her hands over on her head, eyes wide, with her body visibly shaking in terror.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Mion," I stated. "I won't hurt you as long as you're telling the truth about not knowing anything. But if you lie to me, if you betray me again, don't blame me for what I'll do to you."

The underground dungeon reverberated with the sound of my laughter.

***Old Man Kimiyoshi***

Naturally, I couldn't sleep that night. I lay down for a little while in the futon Mion had set up for me. And with my head under the cover, I cried a little. I cried because I knew there was no way out of this mess except to go farther. I had already killed someone by mistake, so there was no going back. And I cried because, through the haze of my disorders, a part of me still loved Mion. She was like an extension of myself in my mind. She must feel so scared and hopeless. She must be sweating and craving for water in that stuffy dungeon. I cried because there was a monster, but the monster was me.

The sun was rising when the phone rang again. To my surprise, it was old man Kimiyoshi. The head of one of the Three Great Families, he was regarded as the village leader. In his everyday doings, he seemed like a sweet man with easy manners and a charisma that made others feel relaxed. However, I knew he worked with the Sonozaki family in their dark designs. Kimiyoshi had been present for my denailing. He was able to sit and watch a teenage girl torture herself to save the people she loved. His heart must be made of stone underneath the warm façade.

"I'm sorry to call so early," he said politely. "Mion, is your grandma awake yet?"

My heart skipped a beat. "No. She's… still asleep. She's tired from yesterday," I elaborated, regaining my calm. "It's probably good to let her rest."

"Then," said the old fellow cheerily, "would you mind taking a message to her?"

"Not at all." I hoped to hear something about the killings.

"Well, it's about yesterday. We decided to have an emergency meeting of the executive committee. Could you tell her it will be held this evening at five in the Furude Shrine Meeting Hall?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be sure to tell her."

I hung up the phone and smiled through my weariness and the daze of the disease. This was a perfect opportunity to find out more information. I would go to that meeting as Mion. Simply saying that Oryo needed rest should be excuse enough for her absence. The executive committee was a little different than the Village Council—the members were fewer, and they all had strong ties to the Three Great Families. They used to meet to discuss activism against the dam, but why were they still meeting? Could they be planning ways to kill me and Keiichi? There could be only one way to find out.


	12. Kontan no Hajime: Start of the Scheme

**Author's Note: Apologies for this chapter being low on action, but it does contain necessary plot points. I also think it's important to understand that, at first, Shion put significant thought into her plan to expose the killers among the Three Great Families. If you want Shion-insanity-action, just wait till next chapter. It's got torture, hallucination, and psychotic breaks. x)**

The phone rang once again. This time, I was even more surprised by the person on the other end. Surprised—and immensely relieved. It was Kasai. He greeted me with a formal good morning. I decided that I wouldn't erase Shion just yet—I would make her disappear after the meeting tonight. As for this morning, I would play the roles of both Shion and Mion.

As Shion, I said chirpily, "Good morning, Kasai!"

"Good morning, Miss Shion. Do you need a ride back to Okinomiya?"

"No, I think I'll stay a little longer. By the way, Kasai, did you hear? About why those two were struck by the Curse of Oyashiro?" (I wanted reassurance. I wanted to test to see if Kasai was still on my side.)

"No, I haven't been told."

"From what I heard, they snuck into the ritual tool shrine by breaking through the padlock."

"How foolish of them."

"You know…" I smiled nervously. "Actually… I did that too."

"You went inside?!" demanded Kasai.

"Yes. Miss Takano asked me to come with her. I went with Takano, Tomitake, and a boy named Keiichi."

Kasai paused and then heaved a sigh. "How are you going to distinguish yourself this time, Shion?"

"Hmm, maybe I should rip out all five nails this time," I said sarcastically. Then I told him what was really on my mind. "Sorry. I grew up far away from Hinamizawa because the old Hag hates me. I don't know much about this place since she kept me locked away in that school. I really didn't know the religious people here were so strict about shrines, even ones that aren't in use anymore. So realistically, it shouldn't be a big deal."

"Miss Shion," replied Kasai gravely, "I intend to be on your side. But there are limits to what I can defend you from. You went too far."

"Kasai!" I exclaimed, unable to stop myself.

Did he really agree with Mion and Oryo? Did he think people deserved to die or be tortured just for entering an unused shrine? Then it couldn't just be a shrine. As I suspected, it was a chamber used to kill people, and the Three Great Families didn't want anyone seeing it. And now Kasai… even Kasai… was defending them.

"I have to go. Mion wants to talk to me. Later!" I hung up the phone.

Kasai was not my side.

I took a few slow, unbelieving steps backward from the phone. My back found the wall. I leaned against it and sank into a sitting position on the floor. Never in my life had I attempted anything significant without Kasai's help. He was my bodyguard, chaperone, and surrogate brother. I tried to keep myself calm. It would do no good to panic now. I had to think this through.

***The Plan***

First of all, I definitely had to start pretending to be Mion. Kasai would surely tell someone that Shion and Keiichi had gone into the shrine, if the Three Great Families didn't already know. They should already know, though. They should be planning to get rid of me and Keiichi. Maybe that was the reason for the meeting tonight. In order to save myself, I had to make Kasai and everyone else believe that Shion had been spirited away. But what about Keiichi? Shouldn't I try to save him?

No, I realized. Making an all-out effort to rescue Keiichi from being targeted would be the equivalent of instantly blowing my cover. I couldn't give up being the obedient family heir until I had more conclusive evidence of the crimes committed by the Sonozaki. The information Mion gave me in the dungeon was barely enough to warrant any police attention. Oryo, the main culprit, conveniently died. I needed to catch the person or people actually carrying out the crimes. The only way, then, to acquire proper evidence, was to watch how the enemy operated with their next victim. In other words, Keiichi would be the bait. If he was killed while I tried to smoke out the criminals in my family, well… so be it. Figuring out this series of gruesome crimes was more valuable than one foolish boy's life.

"Kei-chan, I'm sorry," I muttered, still on the floor. "I'll need to tell you all kinds of lies for this to work."

On the other hand, I also couldn't let the killers get to Keiichi before I figured anything out. If he was suddenly 'Spirited Away by the Demons', it would be bad news for me. I needed to somehow warn Keiichi. I needed him to at least be on the watch for potential enemies.

So I dressed up in Mion's modest school clothes and headed for the small school of Hinamizawa. When classes ended for the afternoon, I found a chance to talk to Keiichi alone. He stood leaning over one of the three connected outdoor sinks, which were used because PE were held outside and not in a gym. He washed his face as I approached from behind him. As he dried off, he turned toward me.

"Mion?" he asked, somewhat taken aback. "You don't look so good. Is everything alright?"

"Well," I smiled, hiding the irony, "I got caught up in the family dinner party. So I guess I had one too many drinks."

"You have a hangover?" exclaimed Keiichi. "How old are you anyway?"

"Cut me some slack, man," I said, imitating Mion. (For the purposes of this encounter, I intended for him to think I was indeed Mion.) "Ah, right, right," I continued. "So, Kei-chan. Did you happen to see Miss Takano or Mr. Tomitake last night?"

"Ah, well…" Keiichi looked down, wanting to keep his secret. "Um, I don't really remember…"

"Ok," I nodded. (He was saying the right things so far, although he sucked at lying.) "Then let me ask this. Did you see Shion last night?"

"Didn't you ask me that last night?" Keiichi dodged the question.

"Oh, did I?" (Mion had probably asked him.) "Well, I'm glad you weren't with them… I mean. I thought you might have a different answer if I asked you today. Don't worry." I copied Mion's easygoing smile and turned as if to walk away. "Don't worry, Keiichi. I'll tell them you weren't in on the bad stuff. I'll make sure they all know!"

Without waiting to see Keiichi's reaction, I shouldered Mion's stupid pink bag and took off at a brisk trot. The time for the meeting of the "executive committee" would be here before I knew it. I hastened to get back to the main estate and prepare. Without looking back, I prayed that my clues had gotten through Keiichi's thick head. He should begin to suspect the Sonozaki family, which would make him a more difficult target to 'Spirit Away.' Hopefully, at the meeting, I would find out which of Oryo's supporters did the killing. Then, I would report everything—and Keiichi would be safe again.

"Keiichi looked really unnerved, though," I thought. "Maybe I should go back to being Shion just with him, so I can look out for him better. Either way, it will have to wait until after the meeting."

At the main estate, I changed into a long, short-sleeved, cream-colored summer dress. It lacked just enough femininity to suit Mion's tastes. Then I hurried to the Furude Shrine. I had to run or risk being late, so by the time I climbed the stairs up through the three terraces and torri, I was panting heavily. With some effort, I stabilized myself and tried to assume the right mindset.

***The Executive Committee***

On my way into the meeting hall, I saw old Kiichiro Kimiyoshi, his son Toji Kimiyoshi, and three other men. One of them was Tadashi Furude, the brother of the late Furude Priest and Rika's uncle. So, I thought, all of the Three Great Families were represented here. As I looked at Kimiyoshi, I wondered if he could really be responsible for plotting murders. He looked so harmless.

Kiichiro Kimiyoshi was in his sixties and had a humble expression with wrinkles that showed he smiled often. The top of his head was mostly bald, but in the back, his grayish hair reached almost to his shoulders. He wore pants and a top that looked halfway between a kimono top and a business shirt. In other words, he dressed casually. His voice was kind and grandfatherly. It was difficult to imagine such a man committing atrocious crimes. Then again, I reminded myself, he had watched in silence while I tore off my own fingernails.

I entered the meeting hall side by side with old man Kimiyoshi. When we entered, some men were already present. We all took our seats around three low wooden tables pushed together to form a U. Not counting Kimiyoshi and myself, sitting alone at the middle table, there were ten members. Most of them I didn't recognize. But I knew that, to be on this committee, they must have positions of power and respect in the village.

Among them, I felt powerless. Butterflies went wild in my stomach. I knew I had to speak, but I hoped it wouldn't be right away. I tried to settle into the background and just listen. Mion must have attended these meetings before, fortunately. The other members were used to seeing a teenage girl at the head of the table, so they didn't all stare.

A middle-aged man with short, spiky hair stood up. "Thank you all for coming despite your busy schedules," he said, breaking up the low chatter in the room. "Let's start with hearing from the Village Leader. Go ahead, sir."

"Yes, you'll have to excuse me for remaining seated," Kimiyoshi said politely. "My old back has been getting worse. Regardless, let's begin. First, regarding Watanagashi…"

The Village Leader's introduction was long and boring. However, the moment he started reviewing the freak deaths that began five years ago, the atmosphere grew heavier. When he finished announcing the two most recent deaths, he turned to me. Calling me "Mion-chan" like a grandfather, he asked what Oryo had to say.

I hesitated before finally finding the right words. "I am Mion Sonozaki, representing the master of the Sonozaki house. I am attending in place of the current master, Oryo Sonozaki." I willed myself to be stern and expressionless like Mion when she acted as heiress. "Unfortunately, the Curse of Oyashiro-sama has struck five years in a row. This is certainly something to be lamented."

This sounded noncommittal, like something Mion would say. I didn't want to make it blatantly obvious that I knew Oryo was a killer. One or more of the people here _had_ to be her agent responsible for the killings, but which one could it be? Until I knew, I had to be conservative. On the other hand, I still intended to dig around for the truth.

"Does anyone know why the Curse has fallen this year?" I asked.

Everyone whispered and exchanged puzzles glances. A few shrugged. So then, they had no idea about the break-in at the ritual tool shrine. Maybe nobody knew. It didn't matter, though. Oryo must have had a reason for saying that Takano and Tomitake got what they deserved. Mion must have had a reason for accusing them of inciting Oyashiro's wrath. Perhaps only the two of them knew the truth about the break-in. There were other possible explanations, too.

Perhaps the village hated Tomitake and Takano simply because they were outsiders. More than that, they were nosy outsiders. Takano wanted to expose Hinamizawa's dark history. Tomitake took photos all over town and rarely asked permission. Perhaps that was why they were so hated. Or perhaps Mion really did see us sneak into the shed, and told only Oryo. Either way, my plan required revealing the truth.

"They broke the law of the ritual tool shrine by intruding," I stated. "They tainted our Sanctuary."

Several people at the tables gasped or stood up in outrage.

"How could they?!" exclaimed Tadashi Furude.

"Those fools!" cried Toji Kimiyoshi.

"Blasphemers!" snarled old man Kimiyoshi, suddenly breaking the image of "sweet grandfather."

"Please calm down," I continued. "In total, four people broke into the Shrine. That leaves us with two. Those two are Shion Sonozaki and Keiichi Maebara. Shion has already been dealt with, but…."

I trailed off with a sudden realization. Everyone in the room had calmed down like I ordered. Now, they were silent and emotionless, looking attentively at me. They looked that way even though I had subtly asked them to eliminate an enemy. Were they all ok with this? Had they understood me correctly?

"What about this other one?" Kimiyoshi asked grimly. "This Keiichi Maebara."

"He has not yet been taken care of," I replied flatly.

Shortly afterward, the meeting let out. I lingered behind with old man Kimiyoshi. Just as he put on his hat and prepared to leave, I stopped him. Though he wasn't a likely killer, he must know for sure who carried out the crimes. I kindly invited him over to the Sonozaki estate. Oryo wanted to see him, I lied, smiling sweetly. The old man joined me in ignorant bliss.

***Kimiyoshi's Mistake***

At the family estate, I brought Kimiyoshi into the sitting room and served some green tea. I apologized, saying that "Grandma" wanted to change clothes first. The old man said he would just wait. Then I wondered what to do with him.

There might be a chance I could convince to him to my side, as long as he didn't find out about Oryo. More likely, however, I would have to get information out of him by force. Haruka's thoughts threatened to take over mine as she thought about torturing the old man. In my head, I pleaded with her to calm down. There might be a way to trick him into giving some information.

"I think Oryo wants to talk about Shion," I began. "What should do we do with her?"

"Well, where is Shion now?" Kimiyoshi asked indifferently.

"She's in the underground dungeon."

"I see. Well, after breaking into the ritual tool shrine…"

"But I don't really think Shion deserves this." (I decided this was within character since Mion _did_ traditionally stick up for me.) "She's been kept away from Hinamizawa all this time. She must have known what she was doing was dangerous, but she never knew it would be this bad."

Kimiyoshi sipped his tea and looked like he was trying to consider. "Mion-Chan. Do you think Shion feels sorry for what she did?"

"Yes," I replied, "but at this rate, I'm worried. She might be Spirited Away by the Demon, just like Satoshi Hojo last year."

"Don't worry, then," the old man assured me. "As long as she's really sorry, I'll make sure Shion isn't spirited away by any demon! Grandpa Kimiyoshi will take care of it!"

Did he just reveal that he supervised these things? Wait, better yet, had I just won him as an ally? Was he on my side after all? With Kimiyoshi's support, I might be able to keep this lie going for some time. Maybe, if Oryo's body was never found, I could get still find a way out of this disaster.

"I'd forgive Shion for just about anything," said Kimiyoshi, "unless it involved that Hojo brat."

So much for an ally.

"Did you say, 'Hojo Brat'?" I asked with forced calm.

"The Hojos deserved what they got," grumbled Kimiyoshi. "They tried to sell out the entire village. Their whole family deserves to be cursed."

"But Grandpa," I inserted, "wasn't Satoshi supposed to be forgiven after Shion distinguished herself? You were there when she removed three fingernails."

"Oh, those were for Kasai-san, Yoshirou-san, and Shion-chan herself."

That shocked me to the bone. I had pulled out three nails to save three lives, but Satoshi was not one of them. So Oryo hadn't lied to me. In my head, I could hear myself and Jun exclaiming over this. They felt a redoubling of guilt. Had we killed our own grandmother over a misunderstanding? No, cried Mari and Haruka. This new fact only served to prove that the Sonozaki family was guilty. Since they never made any agreement to keep Satoshi alive, who but they would have killed him?

"Why was Satoshi-kun Spirited Away?" asked Mari, taking over as Shion's consciousness recoiled in shock and outrage. "Satoshi's parents tried to sell out the village, but what was Satoshi's crime? I already know what you'll say. He was erased because it was the will of the Three Great Families."

"Er—Mion-chan?" Kimiyoshi stammered in confusion.

"No matter what happens," Mari went on, "you will continue to curse the Hojo family. No one will care what happens to them. No matter what, this village has decided, the Hojo family is despicable. I hate people like you, corrupted by such bigotry. People like you drove Satoshi's family into a corner."

As I spoke, Kimiyoshi grew increasingly frightened. I had betrayed Mion's character, and he realized it. As his eyes widened and his hands began to tremble, he must have figured out that I was not Mion at all. I had to be Shion. In that case, what had I done to Mion and Oryo? Old man Kimiyoshi looked petrified as he considered this.

"My poor, poor Satoshi-kun," Mari continued. "What wrong did he do? None at all. He was blamed simply for being a member of the Hojo family. And yet, that doesn't seem reason enough for even you monsters to kill him. Why did the curse fall on him? What crime did he commit?!"

Mari let out a furious shout and summarily Tasered Kimiyoshi. He fell to his side on the floor. This time, we had used a slightly lower voltage and struck the nerve along Kimiyoshi's neck and shoulder, avoiding the spine. The old man would surely live. In fact, he might only be incapacitated for a few minutes. During that time, Mari had to figure out what to do with him. How were we going to get information out of him? For a moment, Mari floundered in indecision.

That was all it took for Haruka to regain control of us. My consciousness faded to the background. Forced to watch from a distance, I couldn't control my own body or emotions. I tried in my head to reassert control. I didn't want to accidentally kill someone again. I didn't want to cause more suffering. Still, Haruka overpowered me. She planned to take care of old man Kimiyoshi herself. Before we dealt with him, however, we had to make sure the plan kept moving: we would have to give dear Keiichi a phone call.


	13. Kyouki: Madness

**Author's Note: I should have said this much earlier, but better late than never. Dialogue for this story is adapted from both the English and Japanese versions of Higurashi. At times, lines are directly quoted, while in other places, a more fitting translation is provided. I do not own any content, let alone the scripts, of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. Paraphrases of the scripts are used to improve this novelization and thus encourage readers to re-watch the real Higurashi with a deeper understanding.**

"Sorry, Shion—what did you just say?"

"I heard that Miss Takano and Mr. Tomitake died," Haruka repeated, calling from the apartment in Okinomiya. She had ordered all Sonozaki agents to take the day off, and Kasai would be spending the night in his own home, so there was no danger in sneaking back to the apartment once. "I heard this morning," we went on. "I overheard my father telling someone on the phone about it."

"The local news didn't mention any deaths," Keiichi said, trying not to sound panicked.

"Well of course it's not going to make the news," we said honestly enough. "Whenever there's a death linked to Oyashiro's Curse, the Sonozaki family does everything possible to keep the police quiet."

"You're kidding," he protested, growing more fearful by the minute.

"Keiichi, I think I've told you this before. It's entirely possible that the villagers are involved in carrying out Oyashiro's curse. Let me make this clear. If someone's death is said to be the result of Oyashiro's Curse, nobody in Hinamizawa is ever going to care."

"That's absurd, Shion! First of all, why would someone keep committing these crimes?"

"My guess is that it's someone trying to carry out the will of my heinous grandmother," we replied, again, honestly enough. "Any disasters on Watanagashi can just be blamed on the village religion's god."

"Ok, then what are you going to do about it?" exclaimed Keiichi, breaking his cool. His voice grew louder and harsher. "I didn't want to go into the shed, but you talked me into it! This is your fault! How are you going to get us out of this mess? How are you going to take responsibility? Are you listen—"

Haruka hung up. Damn, that Keiichi could be annoying. Haruka returned to eating her blue Popsicle contentedly, as if she was not guilty of the slightest lie, let alone the murder of Oryo Sonozaki. With a sigh, she picked up the phone again and this time dialed the Kimiyoshi house. Toji Kimiyoshi picked up and we, as Mion, asked him if he had found old man Kiichiro Kimiyoshi yet. He answered in the negative and told me not to worry, but Haruka deceitfully insisted.

"Grandma and I talked about it," we stated. "She had the idea of gathering the Youth Corps to search for Mr. Kimiyoshi. Although he's only been missing a couple of hours, folks like Grandpa Kimiyoshi can't be too careful in this terrible heat. Plus we're worried about his back and neck pain."

"A search party at this hour of the night?" Toji asked hesitantly.

"Well, the village leader went missing right after Watanagashi," Haruka said, licking her Popsicle. "Grandma said we should take it seriously because of that."

"Um… Ms. Oryo personally said that?" the young man asked. "Well, alright, let's do it. If we search through the night and still don't find him, we'll call the police in the morning."

"That sounds wise," Haruka agreed, privately praising herself for this strategy, which exonerated her from any suspicion. "I'll come help the search, too, tomorrow. Alright then, see you later."

Hanging up, Haruka giggled. This was all a game to her. The pale blue Popsicle she licked seemed far more important to her than the wellbeing of Kiichiro Kimiyoshi. On that note, I will try my best to piece together the memories I have of what I did to old man Kimiyoshi. Haruka ruled my consciousness, and as a result, my memory is incomplete. However, a few things I recall with relative clarity. I saw events unfolding, but I still couldn't find the power to assert control over myself.

We slept for a few hours at the apartment and then went to assist the Youth Corps in searching for old man Kimiyoshi. I had to put in an appearance to make sure nobody would become suspicious of me. After that, I returned to the Sonozaki estate in the small hours of the morning. Haruka would be tormenting and frightening her prisoners here until the time came for school.

***Kimiyoshi Speaks***

In the same room where I had torn out my fingernails, old man Kimiyoshi stood fastened to one of the torture mechanisms found so abundantly here. His hands were bound behind his back. Around his throat was a thick, wide strip of strong leather. This collar was hooked to a chain, which went up to the roof, over a rafter, and descended from there to coil around and around a wheel-like device. When the handle on this was turned, the wheel turned as well, pulling the chain back to it link by link. As the chain was pulled, the pressure on the leather collar—and the victim's throat—increased. One could turn the wheel enough to pull the victim off his feet and leave him suspended in the air, hanging by the collar around his neck.

If the victim of this contraption was pulled up off his feet, he would choke to death in only one or two minutes. However, Haruka had no intention of killing Kimiyoshi so simply. She was playing with him. She—we—cranked the wheel so that the old man could only stand on his tiptoes, struggling for breath as the chain pulled against his collar. We sat down on the edge of a raised platform, smiling as the old man suffered. There was just enough pressure on his neck to keep him from getting a good breath. He might, at this level, remain painfully conscious for several minutes.

"The whole village is going crazy right now, looking for you, 'Granpa'," Haruka remarked. "Oh, you look uncomfortable. Would it help if I loosened the chain a bit? Tell you what. Each time you answer one of my questions, I'll reward you by dropping the chain one more inch. I bet just three inches would make a world of difference to your comfort level right now."

Kimiyoshi must have attempted to speak, but all he could manage was a strangled grunt.

"Oh, my bad," sighed Haruka, stepping over to the wheel. "I guess you couldn't speak right now even if you wanted to."

We turned the handle in the reverse direction. The chain grew slack at once and Kimiyoshi fell face-down on the stone floor. He lay gasping and recovering from the dizziness for a moment before trying to speak. His voice was hoarse and cracked.

"Listen, Miss Shion," he said desperately, "I really don't know anything. I would help if I could. But the truth is I don't think I have the answers you're looking for."

"How about something simple," we replied. "Like, whether Satoshi-kun is actually dead or alive. Are you ignorant about that too?"

"Yes," he rasped with a painful nod.

"Well, then. As head of the Kimiyoshi family, you must at least have an educated guess."

The old man looked away and said nothing. Maliciously, Haruka started cranking the wheel and drawing up the chain again. Kimiyoshi's was pulled up into a painful sitting position. His throat and the sides of his neck were constricted by the strong leather collar.

"Shion, I'm sorry," he managed to say in a rasping voice. "I'm doing the best I can. I promise, I'm not trying to make you angry. It's just—I've got—I've got to think about it!"

We loosened the chain once again. Fine by me, Haruka was thinking. She could torment Kimiyoshi like this all day and feel nothing. We gave the old man only a few seconds to recover his breath. Then Haruka said "Time's up" and again demanded to know if Satoshi was dead or alive.

"This won't be what you want to hear," Kimiyoshi said forlornly, "but I think it's unlikely he's still alive."

Somewhere inside me, the selves who were not Haruka cried out as if struck. We already knew Satoshi was dead, but it hurt like a fresh wound to hear a suspect in his murder confirm this fact. Still controlled by Haruka, we knelt on the floor next to old man Kimiyoshi. For a moment, silence ruled the room, and then Haruka raised her head abruptly and spoke.

"There we go: finally, the truth! See, the fact that Satoshi killed his aunt wasn't what got him wiped out by you people. No, what got him killed was just being born a member of the Hojo family!"

"But Shion," the old man dared to venture, "you've got it mixed up. The man who killed Satoshi's aunt was found. He was a lunatic committing a copy-cat crime. I also heard that he died after his arrest."

"Yes, I've heard that," Haruka smiled dismissively. "But I think that man was only a scapegoat."

"Who would set that up, and why?" Kimiyoshi pushed further.

"Why indeed," we snarled.

"Your theory just doesn't make sense, Shion. If someone wanted to Spirit Away Satoshi, then the last thing they would do is plant a scapegoat to take the blame for his aunt's murder. A scapegoat makes him seem innocent and would keep the police investigation going on for longer. She isn't that foolish."

"She?"

"I can only mean one person, Shion. Ms. Oryo might do something like this." Kimiyoshi didn't sound happy to admit this, but he kept talking. "She might try to fool the police with a scapegoat, but only if it benefited her. I'm sure by now you've heard rumors about your grandmother. There was that incident with the dam foreman's grandson. The way he was kidnapped—"

"Interesting," Haruka said as if holding a cheery conversation, "so that rumor about a kidnapping was true. I did hear something, but I was told that the grandson was Spirited Away by the Demon and later found somewhere deep in the mountains."

"Yes, well," Kimiyoshi grunted. "I think the kidnapping was done on Ms. Oryo's orders. Then, when she heard the dam plans had finally been canceled, she held up her end of the bargain and released the grandson. The members of the old alliance like me know all about these conflicts."

"That's good to know." Haruka began in a calm voice but suddenly switched to a tone of biting sarcasm. "So, it turns out I was right. My awful grandmother, the Three Great Families, and the old alliance were a powerful force after all! Ooh, how frightening! But it's time to come clean. Who, exactly, had Satoshi Spirited Away by the Demon?!"

Kimiyoshi gave a small sigh of regret. "Shion, I really don't know who got rid of the Hojo boy. There is… there is an unwritten law to never ask who actually committed the act in question."

"Then tell me," Haruka snapped, "how do you kill someone and hide the body so it's never found?!"

In answer, Kimiyoshi fully opened his tired brown eyes and glanced at the door to the dungeon behind us. At the same moment, Haruka and I remembered the last dark secret of the dungeon. We understood what the old man was getting at. He meant the old well—or bottomless pit—hidden in one of the cells. I had thrown Oryo's body down there only about thirty hours ago.

***Satoshi and the Well***

The old well served as the ideal place to get rid of corpses. The Hinamizawa police had never successfully acquired a search warrant of the Sonozaki estate, and if they ever took lengths to try, they would turn the whole village against them. Even a search of the estate would not reveal the contents of the deep well. Nobody would look there unless a special extensive search was conducted just for that purpose. By the time any bodily remains might be found, they probably would have decayed beyond recognition. Here in a small town in the early 1980s, there was no such thing as genetic analysis for identification, either. In short, any number of bodies might have been thrown into that pit.

Again, my other personalities recoiled. We were picturing Satoshi thrown into the depths of the well. I left Kimiyoshi at once and headed for the pit. As I hurried there, not even pausing to look at Mion in her cell, my consciousness shifted again. For a moment, Jun managed to overpower Haruka. She was crying. She ran to the edge of the pit and turned on a flashlight. A ladder led down into the great borehole, but it looked like nobody had used it in a long time. After all, who would go down to clean or conduct maintenance on a monstrously deep "well" used for dumping dead bodies?

"Satoshi-kun!" Jun shouted into the darkness, which was only relieved by a small circle of light from the flashlight. "Satoshi-kun!"

Poor Jun, at this point, had completely broken down mentally. She was the one personality who never wished to harm a fly. The moment we found out we had accidentally slain Oryo, Jun retreated deep into my heart. The only thing that might bring her back to my consciousness was the hope of seeing Satoshi. For so very long, it seemed, she longed to know where the golden-haired hair boy went. Now we knew where he was. Could he really be nothing more than a skeleton at the bottom of this terrible hole? So Jun screamed for him like a madwoman. She no longer felt sure of her sense of reality or sanity.

When her shouts went unanswered, she fell to her knees. The flashlight rolled on the dirt floor of the cell and came to rest by our feet. In reality, the flashlight cast an image of my own shadow on the earthen wall above the pit. In Jun's head, however, the shadow that suddenly appeared could only be one thing: the spirit of Satoshi. At this point, my vague consciousness as Shion should have realized I was experiencing psychosis, but I was already too far along in the disease. Jun heard the voice of Satoshi as clear as day; she never thought it could be an auditory hallucination.

"You did it, Shion," said the shadow in a peaceful voice. "You finally found the place my body rests."

"Satoshi-kun!" Jun exclaimed, with tears welling up in our blue-green eyes. "I'm so sorry, Satoshi."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for," replied the shadow of Satoshi. "You did no wrong."

A small sob escaped Jun as she remembered that we killed Oryo. "I'm going to join you, Satoshi," we called into the darkness. "You and I can be together forever after this." We stood up once more. "I'll jump, Satoshi. All you need to do is catch me."

"No," Satoshi said simply, and it seemed that the shadow shook its head. "You must live, Shion."

"Live for what?" we all cried. "What's the point of living if I'm so alone? I only want to live with you, Satoshi-kun! I want it to last forever!"

Jun began sobbing. As she sank back down to her knees, she kicked the flashlight to the side and disrupted the image. Satoshi had vanished again. For a moment, Jun sat there sobbing piteously. Then, slowly, we walked over to Mion's cell. Perhaps it was because Jun cared enough to check on Mion, or perhaps it was just because we wanted someone—anyone—to hear about our discovery.

"I found him," Jun said to Mion in a broken voice. "I think he's at the bottom of the well. Isn't he?"

"I think so," said my sister, and, true to her sincere nature, she was crying too. "That's the only place I can think of where the body wouldn't be found. Even Onigafuchi swamp would turn up bodies if they had been put there…"

"I need to know the truth," Jun rejoined earnestly, staring into Mion's tearful eyes. "Were you around when they decided to kill Satoshi-kun?"

Mion told me "No" in a miserable voice. "If I'd been around, I would have tried to stop it," she swore. "I would have pleaded for his life, _Onee_. I promise you that."

If only we had been able to quiet our mind at that point, things might have turned out differently. Surely I would have had to turn myself in for killing Oryo, but I might not have harmed anyone else; I might have finally ended my quest to uncover the Sonozaki crimes, surrendering it to the police. Unfortunately, however, I still suffered from PTSD. As Mion made that promise, Jun was reminded of how Mion betrayed us a year ago, helping Oryo force us to rip out our nails. A vivid flashback took over our mind.

Jun saw it all in a flash: my wrist strapped to the iron base of the denailer, my pinky lined up with the metal prongs, my desperate trembling as I hit the device's lever and mutilated myself, and the look of cold indifference on Mion's face the entire time. Mion could not be trusted. Mion had tried to hurt me. Mion betrayed me. One could say that the self known as Jun died in that moment of anguish. For a minute, I returned to being Shion. I had no idea what was happening, but it didn't matter. Even Shion had lost her mind, by now, as the Hinamizawa Syndrome ate away at my brain. It told me I was right. It told me the Sonozaki family were demons. It told me that Mion was lying again, planning to betray me.

"YOU FILTHY LIAR!" I screamed, beating and kicking at the metal bars of Mion's cell. "It's all your fault! You could have saved him but you didn't! You could have saved him! You could have saved his life! Why is this happening? WHY?!"

Mion cowered back away from the bars. I must have seemed completely and totally insane for her to show such fear. My mind slipped away again. My guess is that Haruka took over again in Shion's weakness, and memories were lost as a result. Who knows what I might have done to Mion? And then there was the village leader. I know that I must have killed old man Kimiyoshi. However, I was never able to remember exactly when or how I did it. I have a vague memory of dragging a corpse to the well. Haruka had committed murder again, and this time it wasn't an accident. It was pure madness.


	14. Koneko o Yurushimasu:Forgive the Kitties

**Author's Note: A compound found in chili peppers, Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) is the irritant in pepper spray.**

By the time I needed to set out for school, Mari had temporarily regained control of me. I was Mari, but I could hear all the other personalities talking and arguing in my head. Any one of them could take control at any moment.

My memories were in a jumble. I wasn't sure if I had killed anyone or why. I felt sure, however, that trying to put the pieces together would break me completely. So I operated on "auto pilot," pretending to be some kind of detective trying to expose the crimes of my family. Yes, thought Mari, this was all for justice.

Disguised as Mion, Mari met Keiichi and Rena on the way to school. When Mari yawned loudly, thinking it within my sister's character, the others wondered why I was so tired. Rena then suggested that perhaps I had stayed out late trying to find the village leader (Kimiyoshi). Mari nodded and explained how she and the Youth Corps searched unsuccessfully all night. Keiichi acknowledged that I must have a lot on my plate.

"An all-nighter isn't a big deal," Mari stated cheerily. "I've got lots of stamina I haven't even touched yet!"

In her head, Mari noted that Keiichi seemed awfully relaxed. It seemed that he hadn't yet been in contact with the enemy. Nobody had tried to spirit him away. Perhaps we should give him another call tonight, as Shion. After all, now that Oryo and Kimiyoshi were dead, the only way to find the actual killer was to lure him out using Keiichi as bait. If that plan failed, everything would fall apart.

Before going into the classroom, Keiichi, Rena, and Mari stopped to say good morning to Satoko and Rika. I probably hadn't seen them yesterday, in my hurry to get to the executive committee meeting. It felt like Mari hadn't seen them in a long time. She was glad to be reminded of their presence, however. Satoko's closest friend, ten year old Rika, could prove of utmost importance to Mari's plans.

Rika Furude was the last surviving member of her immediate family. Her only living relatives were her father's brother and his wife, who provided the money for the orphaned Rika's living expenses. The young heir to the Furude Shrine lived in a small rented house with Satoko, whose uncle would no longer take care of her.

While Rika was certainly a member of the Three Great Families, Mari found it difficult to believe she had anything to do with carrying out Oyashiro's Curse. She was only a child… not to mention the fact that she had never been asked to the board meetings. Still, we needed to question her. Mari planned to do so discreetly, at school, silencing Haruka's demands that we kidnap the poor girl.

***Rika's Interview***

During recess, Mari asked for a word alone with Rika. We stood on the field behind the schoolhouse next to the eaves of the woods. None of the kids played this close to the woods, and they avoided the back of the school anyway because of the tall, unkempt grass. They preferred to play around the storage sheds on the sides, on the neat lawn in front, or on the baseball field not far from the schoolhouse.

"So, as the heir of the Furude family," Mari began, "how much do you about the current situation?"

"You must be talking about Mr. Tomitake, so-it-is?" Rika asked after a moment of puzzled silence.

 _She knew_. Nothing about Tomitake's death had been released to the public. There was no way Rika should know, unless she was privy to the plans.

"It was the will of Oyashiro's Curse, so-it-is," Rika stated noncommittally.

"I know that much," Mari bit back. "But that means it isn't over, right? There's two more to go. What will their fate be?" We noticed Rika looking at us with lips shut tightly. "Well?" we demanded. "Are you listening to me?!"

"Nothing needs to happen to them, so-it-is," Rika said at last. Her innocence surprised me.

"Of course something needs to happen," Mari protested, trying to keep up the role of Mion. "If we let those two free, it means they never took responsibility. They never distinguished themselves."

"Ok, but I think if they feel bad about what they did, that's all that matters, so-it-is."

Mari lost patience with the little girl's supposed innocence. She grabbed Rika by her collar and pink bowtie, saying, "Don't screw with me! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. How did the last of the Furude family ever get so soft?! You're saying it's no big deal to violate the ritual tool shrine?"

"Not at all," answered Rika hurriedly, unused to being handled this way. "That shrine is still an important place for Oyashiro-sama. No one should ever go in there without permission, so-it-is. You're right. The ones who broke in are like bad little kitties."

"They are very bad kitties indeed." We channeled Mion. "But only two of the four have been punished."

"Meow," said Rika. (Mari had no way of telling if she was mocking our conversation or not.)

"So, how should we make them distinguish themselves for this crime? Well, head of the Furude?"

"I think we should just forgive them," Rika smiled, "the two little kitties left running around."

"You don't believe they need to distinguish themselves or take responsibility?"

"Mii-chan," Rika answered, meeting my eyes calmly. "You keep using this phrase 'distinguish themselves' and I don't know what you mean. Oyashiro-sama won't care if all they did was take a peek, so-it-is."

"Amazing," Mari seethed with sarcasm. "You're still going like that!"

"I'll tell you the reason nobody is supposed to be in that shrine," stated Rika, staring at me with her calm violent eyes. "The shrine is full of scary tools, so-it-is. I bet when the four of them saw that stuff, they got really scared. And if they got scared and left, and feel bad, then it's all ok. So-it-is."

"You can't decide whether it's ok," Mari protested. "Doesn't Oyashiro decide that?"

"Yes, so-it-is. But Mion, I'm Oyashiro-sama's Priestess."

"So what?" Mari demanded furiously. On top of everything else, this little girl was bringing religion into it. "Please don't tell me you think Oyashiro speaks to you, or tells you who is going to be cursed!"

Rika simply nodded.

"Ha!" cried Mari, frustrated. "I can't believe a brat like you is the Furude family head! They used to be one of the Great Families!"

"I don't know why you're so angry." Hints of annoyance and defiance stole into the little girl's face. "I wish you would just tell me what's actually upsetting you, so-it-is."

"YOU are upsetting me!" snapped Mari.

She slapped Rika's right cheek, struck again with the backhand, and hit the girl's left cheek with the third blow. They were not maliciously powerful slaps at all, but they were enough to sting, and perhaps bring a girl to tears. We released our hold on Rika's collar, shoving her down into the grass.

Of course, Rika had been exactly right in noticing that something under the surface was what actually left Mari so upset. Rika mysteriously knew about Tomitake's death and the break-in at the ritual tool shed. She couldn't have received this information from the village's nonexistent god. The only explanation was that Rika was involved with the crimes, but if that was so, why did she seem so innocent and forgiving? Was she smart enough to put on an act to throw us off?

It was more than lack of understanding that made us angry. In Mari's mind, there _needed_ to be a culprit. We needed to find the killer, the person who actually carried out Oryo's wishes. Oryo was silent in her grave, Kimiyoshi had never asked the killer's identity, and now the last of the Three Great Families was talking about forgiving Keiichi! How could Mari lure out the criminal unless someone went after Keiichi? Rika might have the power to call whoever it was to stop. But if she did that, the mystery would never be solved. Satoshi would never be truly avenged.

"The village leader had to distinguish himself too," Mari said, looking down at Rika threateningly. "That is why he had to disappear. The only one left to distinguish himself is Keiichi-kun. The Furude family is tasked with carrying this out!"

"Mii-chan," Rika said in a slightly subdued voice, "I don't know anything about that stuff."

Mari glared nails at her until the little girl looked away, not wanting to hold eye contact. We had hoped for information and come up with nothing again. We had not verified whether or not Rika was telling the truth. Something certainly didn't add up about her. If something did happen to Keiichi, then as far as Mari knew, Rika was as guilty as the old Hag Oryo. Even if she wasn't directly involved in killing, withholding necessary information would make this holy Miko a guilty sinner. If they succeeded in spiriting away Keiichi, we thought, we would take revenge by killing Rika. Haruka delighted over the thought of giving her a painful death.

***Rika's Visit***

The Hinamizawa Syndrome was actually making my Dissociative Identity Disorder worse. It caused me to switch rapidly between alters and yet maintain a vague idea of what was happening. Strangely, I could remember some things done by another personality. It was as if my multiple selves were merging. The weight of it threatened to snap my mind at any moment, combined with the paranoia and violent urges of Hinamizawa Syndrome.

After school, I (as Mari) began to remember throwing Kimiyoshi down into the dungeon well. Try as she might, Mari could not justify this. She sat in Mion's room in the dark, holding a vicious, fixed hunting knife with a five inch blade. Just as Jun considered jumping down the well to join Satoshi in death, Mari considered using that knife to end her mockery of an honorable life. She felt fairly certain that Haruka had thrown Kimiyoshi down alive. We wondered if he was dead yet or still suffering with dozens of broken bones at the bottom of a pit.

"I actually loved that old man," Mari realized, gripping the knife. "Look at this. All the people closest to me are disappearing one by one. It all started with Satoshi. Yes, Satoshi…"

She slammed the knife down and it stood quivering, blade embedded in the wooden floor. Anyone from the Hojo family could have been chosen as a victim, Mari realized. In that case, Satoko deserved to die instead. That brat did her best to drag Satoshi down and tear away at his heart with all her caviling. Satoko fed on her brother like a parasite and never once gave anything back. What would it be like if she had died instead?

"Satoshi would have been broken," Mari thought. "His heart would never fully recover. Her death would free him temporarily, but a dark cloud would have loomed over him. _But I would have been there for him_! I would be there to heal his pain. And then, he and I…"

The doorbell rang.

Wearing one of Mion's t-shirts and close-fitting trousers, Mari hurried to answer the front door. She found Rika waiting with a smile on her pretty face, and a gigantic (empty) sauce bottle in her arms. The shrine maiden told Mari she had come to get some soy sauce. We probably told her to come over for that earlier, but we must have forgotten because of the rapid personality switches. Mari welcomed Rika inside, feeling friendly enough. She was glad of anything to take her mind off Satoshi and off of suicide.

The little girl walked behind as Mari led the way, down a hall, and toward the walk-in food pantry. Oddly, Mari could not hear the sound of Rika's footsteps. She paused, and Rika walked right into her back. Mari quickly apologized, saying she had spaced out for a second. She kept walking. Presently, Mari realized she could hear her footsteps, but the sound was masked by that of her own. Was Rika trying to mess with me by matching my footsteps?

Briefly, Mari turned her head and looked back at Rika. The shrine maiden grinned and said "Nipaa," a sound effect of cheeriness she often uttered. Mari continued on, wondering what the little girl could be thinking. Soon we reached the pantry and entered without delay. Opening a mini-cellar in the floor, Mari drew out a jar of sauce big enough to fill even Rika's large bottle.

On her knees, Mari put the lid over the cubby and turned to face Rika.

"Take as much as you want."

But the smile had vanished from Rika's face. Our heads were on the same level now, since I was still kneeling. Without warning, the shrine maiden pulled out a small canister and sprayed it directly at our face.

At once, Mari's eyes began to pour water and shut tightly against our will. It seemed like floods of mucus were running along our sinuses and out our nose. It had to be pepper spray. Mari cried out in pain because the next thing we felt was the burn. Have you ever been so badly sunburned that a layer of skin died and peeled off a few days after exposure? The burn of the pepper spray was worse than the pain even from such a scorching. When she tried to get her breath, Mari kept coughing, bringing up more mucus.

We were so physically distressed by the oleoresin capsicum, we became completely helpless. Mari lay face-down on the floor, still coughing and rasping. Rika grabbed us by the pony tail and forced us onto our back. Trying to use even her slight weight to an advantage, she sat on Mari's stomach as if to hold us down. Although she was shouting in pain, Mari managed to open her watery eyes for a second. She saw Rika holding a large, sharp-tipped syringe. It must be some kind of deadly drug.

The shrine maiden meant to inject us right away, but we screamed and tried to struggle. To subdue Mari, Rika attempted to spray us in the face again. However, Mari shielded her face and Rika herself breathed in the cloud of pepper spray. At the same time, I unintentionally switched to being Haruka. She took control and pushed Rika off her body right away. Standing and staggering a few steps backward, Haruka whipped out her Taser.

"If you want to play like that, fine!" Haruka shouted.

To Be Continued...


	15. Tsugi no Ejiki: The Next Victims

**Author's Notes. 1) Be warned that this chapter is violent. 2) Also, just in case, I'll say there's a suicide trigger warning. 3) A Santoku is a type of large Japanese kitchen knife similar to a Chef's Knife.**

***Rika's Choice***

To subdue Mari, Rika attempted to hit her with pepper spray again. However, Mari shielded her face and Rika herself breathed in the cloud of spray. At the same time, I unintentionally switched to being Haruka. She took control and pushed Rika off her body right away. Standing and staggering a few steps backward, Haruka whipped out her Taser.

"If you want to play like that, fine!" Haruka shouted. She could completely ignore the burn of the capsicum, and though her eyes were blurry with the tears, she managed to keep them open.

Rika clambered to her feet and got into something like a fighting stance. She held the pepper canister in her right hand and the syringe in her left. Haruka found her center of balance and stood ready to defend. With her right hand she wielded the Taser, and she held her left at the ready to shield, strike, or grab as needed. For a moment, neither of us moved.

"Come on, Rika," Haruka shouted wildly, "you're starting to overstay your welcome! Make a move already! If you don't strike now, I definitely will, you damn brat!"

As she rushed forward, Haruka used her left hand to grab a stack of newspapers and throw them in Rika's face. As a result, the shrine maiden could not properly see Haruka's advance, nor stop it with another dose of pepper spray. Striking with the Taser, Haruka nearly missed, but enough voltage hit home to at least shock Rika into falling down. Then we drew back our right foot and kicked the side of the little girl's body with force. Not once, not twice, but three times. It had to have broken a rib. Rika dropped both of her weapons, cringing on the floor. Quickly and deftly, Haruka held down Rika's arm, picked up the syringe, and injected the shot into the little girl. She cried out with the sharp pain.

"Ha!" said Haruka triumphantly. "That'll teach you to mess with me! Now, let's see how that little drug of yours works, you goddamn brat."

Groaning with hurt and still coughing from the capsicum, Rika wobbled to her feet. She could no longer properly stand with the pain in her ribs, so she supported herself by leaning against the wall. To her credit, Rika was probably amazingly strong for being able to stand at all. However, Haruka was not one to give an inch of credit to a perceived attacker.

"Look at you!" we laughed. "You're so pathetic! That was too easy. All that's left for me to do is stand here and watch you die. But I was so looking forward to torturing you first. I hate to give that up. Let's change the stage a little bit. Let's take all this fun we're having to the underground torture chamber!"

Rika stumbled over to a cutting board island against the pantry wall. She picked up a large Santoku.

"Well now," Haruka smiled, "it looks like you have a little fight left in you. I guess it wouldn't be any fun if you didn't. I'm sure I'll enjoy driving the nails through your fingers much more if you're struggling while I'm doing it."

As Haruka spoke, Rika moved away instead of attacking. She clambered backward until we were five or six feet from each other. Did she mean to get into fighting stance again?

"Sorry," said Rika, speaking suddenly and clearly in a voice that did not sound like her own. "I'm going to have to turn down your offer. Go find someone else to torture."

"Now that's how the head of the Furude family should actually sound," Haruka remarked. "And yet, I have to wonder. How threatening do you think you can be, Rika, when you can barely stand? If you think you're going to be able to run away, you're very wrong."

"Maybe," said Rika, whose voice now sounded like that of an adult. "But maybe we have different views on what that means. I could stay here and let you torture me for days on end, or I could leave here right now."

"Leave here?" Haruka cackled. "Ha! I dare you to try!"

The little girl's eyes looked empty as lifted the heavy Santoku. Haruka, in kind, brandished the Taser again. But Rika did not move to attack. She pressed the end of the knife's handle up against the wall so that it stuck out horizontally, blade pointed outward. It was right at the same level as Rika's head. Before I knew what she was doing, the shrine maiden bashed the side of her head against the knife.

The point of the blade dug into her temple. She had stabbed herself in the head. Blood spattered as Rika silently pulled her head away, dislodging the blade, only to stab herself again. She did this a total of seven times, all in complete silence, all while blood gushed from her head and ran in rivulets down her body to pool on the floor.

Even for Haruka, it was shocking to see a healthy ten year old girl commit such a gruesome suicide. But expressions of terror or disgust were alien things to Haruka. She did the only thing that came naturally to her. She laughed. Inside me, Shion and Mari were screaming, but on the outside, my body, Haruka's body, shook with unrestrained hilarity. It was an absurd and uproarious amount of laughter.

"I did it!" Haruka exclaimed. "I won! I took down all the people who killed Satoshi!"

***Keeping up Appearances***

Haruka wanted to throw Rika's corpse into the well straight away. However, the phone rang, so she covered the dead girl's face with newspapers and hurried to answer the call. After all, keeping up appearances is the most important thing when one has a dead body in their house.

To our surprise, it was Satoko. She apologized for calling so late and asked if Rika was over here. A dreadful plan began to unfold in Haruka's mind. She told Satoko that Rika was indeed at her house. When Satoko explained she wanted to make dinner for the two of them, Haruka pretended to apologize.

"Oh, Satoko, that's totally my fault. I made way too much food over here. I kind of talked Rika into eating some of it. You should come by and have some too. There's plenty for everyone."

"Well, I'd love to, but…"

"Come on," Haruka urged, keeping her voice friendly. "Rika's already started digging in."

"Oh, that Rika," sighed Satoko, as if she wasn't twice as troublesome a child. "Ok, sure. I'll clean up here and come over. Again, sorry for calling so late. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Sounds good. I'll be waiting."

My consciousness again became fuzzy at this point. Shion didn't want any harm to come to Satoko, but Mari wanted to punish her, and Haruka meant to torture and kill her. Because of the conflict, I switched personalities rapidly, and can't remember exactly what I did. Jun might have turned the tide in Shion's favor in the battle in my head, but that personality would never surface again.

Anyway, when we became Haruka again, we knew that Satoko was locked in a cell in the underground dungeon. We planned to deal with her later. In the meantime, Haruka made Satoko watch while we dumped Rika's bloody body into the well. We also told her we had thrown Kimiyoshi down there. We ignored the cries from Mion, who couldn't see, and was asking who was dead and if I had killed her. She also begged for some water, and looked like she could barely move, but Haruka ignored her.

Back in the main house, Haruka nonchalantly cleaned all the blood off the walls and floor of the food pantry. While doing so, we decided to make another call.

Although usually distant from reality, Haruka did possess something like a survival instinct. She didn't want to be caught or even suspected of causing Rika's death or hiding information about her. So Haruka devised a plan—and not a bad one—to shift the blame away from Mion and Shion.

"Keiichi-kun." Haruka tried to channel Jun, using a soft feminine voice. The self that was sweet and kind was already dead, however. "Keiichi-kun, it's Shion."

"Hey, Shion. I'm sorry I lashed out at you on the phone last night. I was just nervous. Now I understand we're both in the same predicament."

"If you're sorry, then I forgive you." Haruka tried not to sound bored as she acted. "From now on, Keiichi-kun, let's try to let each other know about anything new. We're in this together. So, Keiichi. Is it really true? Did old man Kimiyoshi go missing yesterday evening?"

"Kimiyoshi?" asked Keiichi sleepily. "Oh, you mean the village leader. Yes, it's true."

Haruka let false panic creep into her voice. "Oh, no. I told the village leader about the break-in at the tool shed! It's my fault he's missing now."

"It can't be your fault," the boy tried to reassure us.

"No, it really is my fault! He went missing right after I told him! He vanished that same night! He was killed because I talked to him. He was killed because I told him about that night! One by one, they kill the ones you love. Then they kill you after you suffer the pain! That's what the killers are doing!"

Keiichi finally took me seriously. "I talked, too," he said in a voice of dread. "And I told her everything as well. Rika! I told her at school yesterday!"

The call ended there. It didn't sound like Keiichi had hung up. He must have been so shocked and frightened that he stood up suddenly, causing the phone to come unplugged. No matter. What an amazing idea, Haruka thought. Not only had we shifted the blame off of us, but we had also scared Keiichi out of his wits. He would become extremely concerned for Rika. He might call everyone together to search for her. If that happened, I would pretend to join them as Mion. This way, surely nobody would suspect us.

***That Girl is Cursed***

Haruka's prediction turned out correct. We, as Mion, met up with Keiichi and Rena near Satoko's house. It was already ten at night when we gathered on our bikes. Haruka thought conducting a search would be a simple task, but we didn't count on Rena Ryuugu trying to play detective on her own. If only Haruka had taken her more seriously, things might have gone very differently.

As we approached Rika's house, Rena quickly pointed out that the bikes of Rika and Satoko were missing. They were not parked at their usual place at the base of the stairs. When calling didn't work and the doors were locked, Keiichi suggested entering the house through one of the second story windows. He was desperate to confirm whether Rika was missing too, or whether she could just be sleeping inside.

Amiably, I helped bring a ladder to the house. Keiichi started cautiously climbing the rungs. Rena, meanwhile, went to check the main Furude residence. (This house where Rika stayed was not the same one where her deceased parents had lived, next to the Furude Shrine.) Haruka held the base of the ladder steady.

"Nobody's gone in the main Furude residence since Rika's parents suddenly died," we remarked.

"Oh, I'd forgotten about Rika's parents," said Keiichi, pausing.

"Satoko's parents are dead, too," Haruka said, feigning a sad expression. "The reason her parents fell off that cliff, and the reason her brother went missing, is all just a result of Oyashiro's Curse. That's why Rika and Satoko decided to live together."

What happened next felt out of character for Haruka. It felt out of character for all of us. For the first time, we began wondering if something else was driving our madness. Haruka felt a terrible sense of impending doom in her gut, her throat became insanely itchy, and it felt like something was eating away at her head. The words and actions we took made no sense. I could feel myself in them, though—Shion was trying to be heard. Shion was trying to make sense of the fact that so many people had died. She was desperately denying any part in it.

"That girl is cursed," we began. "I said that girl is cursed!" Savagely, we began to shake the ladder, ignoring Keiichi's confused protests. "Satoko Hojo is a monstrous girl stained by Oyashiro's Curse! Satoshi did everything he could to help that little brat, but in the end the only thing that ever got him was erased!" We continued shaking the ladder as we shouted, wearing the face of a crazed animal. "SATOSH DID EVERYTHING FOR HER ANG GOT NOTHING IN RETURN! I'm telling you, Satoko is EVIL! Anyone who goes near her will either die or be erased. If Rika had disappeared, then it's SATOKO's FAULT! It has to be her fault! It has to be her fault! It has to be!"

"Guys," called Rena, "the next door neighbor has a key! We don't need the ladder."

As quickly as it had come, the fit passed. I stopped shaking the ladder and realized I was Shion. The only thing I remembered clearly was that I had to be pretend to be Mion for some reason. I smiled up at Keiichi, who looked horrified, and had barely caught himself from falling off the ladder.

"Saved by Rena," I said. "Right, Keiichi-kun?"

Once inside, we found the place empty. I grimly speculated that it might be related to the disappearance of the village leader. (Even though Mari could recall vaguely, Shion had no memory of killing Kimiyoshi.) Everyone's fears shot through the roof, and villagers soon started a search party for Rika and Satoko. I led the effort, again playing the role of helpful family heir.

Keiichi wanted some time alone, and I felt sorry for him when I saw he was barely keeping his emotions together. I didn't bother to watch Rena. She comforted the weeping Keiichi, who felt that Rika's disappearance was his fault. Then, unbeknownst to me, Rena returned to the inside of Rika's house. It was there she would come up with her theory about the recent disappearances.

To Be Continued...


	16. Wasurerareta Yakusoku: Forgotten Promise

**16: Wasurerareta Yakusoku: Forgotten Promise**

 **Author's Note: the death of Satoko is pretty much disturbing no matter what your standard of "horrible" might be. For that reason, I've set aside this chapter for the fate of Satoko, to make it easy to skip over if desired. I don't write truly gruesome horror, but I also don't try to make the little girl's death any less violent than it is in the anime. If you want to skip to chapter 17, all you need to know is that Satoko was killed and Shion continues to lose her mind.**

I felt incredibly tired as the search for Satoko dragged on. Many people don't know, but depending on individual neurochemistry, lack of sleep can sometimes lead to symptoms of psychosis. People with stable chemistry and healthy amounts of neurotransmitters may stay up three nights in a row and only experience fatigue and some slight visual distortion. Others with less healthy neurochemistry (such as those suffering mental disorders) may start experiencing paranoia, delusions, or even hallucinations after staying awake three nights. Some experience drastic mood swings and impulsivity after only one night without sleep.

As for me, I had only slept two hours last night. The nocturnal hours had been spent "searching" for Kimiyoshi, torturing him for information, and throwing his body down the well. The night before that, I hadn't slept at all, having accidentally killed Oryo and leaving my sister locked in the underground dungeon. Now, on this third night, Rika had died. The "search" for Rika was extending past midnight. My thoughts, as a result, were about as clear as mud.

"Thank you for checking the swamp area," I said to a couple of the villagers. "The ladies have prepared a batch of miso soup, so please take a break and help yourselves."

"Excuse me," one man interjected. "Who was it that first discovered Rika was missing?"

"Oh, it was Kei-chan," I half-lied.

"That's awfully suspicious," the villager said.

Wait, I thought. Had I just made Keiichi the bad guy with that one remark? People would suspect him now, especially since he wasn't born in Hinamizawa. Why did I feel happy about that? Wasn't Keiichi my friend? Then why did part of me rejoice at the thought of him being a suspect? Some part of me must have known that it was me, after all, who was guilty.

"What a pleasant smell," said Detective Oishi, sauntering into view and shattering my short-lived hope. "Is that pork miso? I'd love to join you for that meal."

He smiled at me knowingly, the same way he had after my fingernails were ripped out. Did he suspect me, after all? Did he have a reason to? He just might. Damn that Oishi, I thought. And then, as I headed home that night at three A.M., my will and mind faltered. I couldn't sleep even when I tried. The hallucinations of Satoshi's ghost—or Oyashiro, if he existed—drove me further up the wall. In my weakness, I had no choice but to let Haruka take over again. I would have fought against her harder if I knew that Satoko was in the dungeon, but as Shion, I couldn't remember a thing.

When I became vaguely aware of myself as Haruka, a smile crossed our face. It was time to deal with the Hojo.

***Satoko's Fate***

Haruka prepared with anticipation. She dressed in the traditional outfit of the male family head: cream-colored kimono and divided hakama bottoms with a teal obi tied in front. Our weapon this time was the hunting knife Mari found earlier. Haruka walked to the center of the dungeon, where a strong, thick, wooden cross stood.

Tied to the cross like some little figure on a crucifix was little Satoko. Her wrists, upper arms, and feet were tied to the cross so she was held in place with her arms stretched out to either side. A final strap was fixed around her waist to further restrict her movement. Haruka had made sure it was cruelly tight.

Satoko had been hanging there on the cross for several hours straight, probably awaiting her death with dread. However, when Haruka showed up, standing before her with a smile, Satoko still looked defiant. The last thing Haruka had done was show her that Rika was dead. Satoko glared at her captor boldly.

"Murderer!" she shouted us. "Rika, and Grandpa Kimiyoshi! How dare you murder them?!" She closed her eyes in grief. "Rika…" she murmured. Then her eyes flew wide open. "And what are you going to do to me?"

"I'll simply kill you," Haruka replied with a cruel smile.

"No!" screamed Mion, as Satoko began shaking in terror. "Please don't kill Satoko!"

"Oh, NOW you beg for mercy," chuckled Haruka. "You didn't beg for Satoshi-kun. That's your crime."

Without further ado, and with a surge of pleasure almost like a drug, Haruka struck. She drove her knife into the meat of Satoko's left arm. The little girl screamed, and when the knife was pulled back slightly, blood began spurting from the broken artery. Haruka drove the blade deeper and then twisted it to cause even more pain. Satoko could only groan and gasp.

"Please let Satoko go!" exclaimed Mion from her cell. "I don't care what happens to me. Just please let Satoko go!"

Haruka talked over Satoko's cries. "Seeing you shout for mercy, Mion, is just like looking at myself a year ago. But no matter how much you cry, no one hears and no one will be saved."

This time Haruka drove the knife into her victim's chest, carefully avoiding the heart area in order to prolong the pain and suffering. Satoko cried out piteously as blood poured from the wound. Her eyes were big as plates, her face frozen in terror with her mouth hanging open. Shudders of pain shook her body, making her jerk and twitch against the restraints.

"STOP!" Mion screamed, sick, and white as a sheet with horror. "Stop, stop, stop!"

"How about this?" said Haruka, pulling the knife out of her victim again. "Mion, say that you're sorry a thousand times. Then I'll let Satoko go."

Of course, Haruka had no intention of keeping such a bargain. She was intent on killing Satoko tonight. Mion must have known that. But what could the poor girl do? As long as there was any chance at all of saving Satoko, she had to play along. Resisting the urge to vomit, Mion grasped the bars of her cell. She began speaking rapidly and shakily.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

With a grunt of satisfaction, Haruka stabbed Satoko's right arm. Again the little girl screamed, and Mion's voice rose to a shrill shout as she desperately continued apologizing. Haruka only felt alive when causing pain to others. She laughed, enjoying herself.

The amount of blood running from Satoko's three wounds was surprising. The girl could bleed to death in ten minutes at this rate. The grunts and moans of pain from Satoko had rapidly switched to high-pitched squeals. Tears fell from her wide eyes as she suffered, unable to move.

"It looks like crying really is your forte," Haruka said in a pleased voice. "Is your brother Nii Nii going to come help you when you cry?"

Satoko gave a strangled shout as Haruka stabbed her right wrist. The knife went clean through and stuck into the wood of the cross. We yanked the blade out, causing a spattering of blood. Satoko's eyes looked empty. She was weeping in a subdued and high pitched tone, and her clothes were soaked in blood. The blood loss must be starting to make her dizzy, and the pain was such that she could barely remain conscious to endure it. Mion had stopped shouting "I'm sorry" and started throwing up in her cell.

"Satoko, can you hear my voice?" She didn't answer, so Haruka slapped her face. "Listen up, you C***! Do you understand your crime? Do you know how much you hurt Satoshi-kun?"

"Nii nii," Satoko squeaked at the mention of her brother.

"That's right. All you ever did was cry 'Nii Nii.' Satoshi came to your aid each time you cried. Did you never consider what a burden that was for Satoshi-kun? In the end, Satoshi wasn't your hero, nor was he immortal. And neither are you."

Haruka held the bloodied knife before Satoko's terrified eyes for a moment. Then she brandished the weapon and dug the blade into Satoko's thigh. It was high time we actually killed this one, Haruka thought. She was going to lose consciousness and die of blood loss shortly anyway, so we might as well make her last moments as horrifying as possible. As Satoko screamed, Haruka stabbed her again and again. She covered the right side of Satoko's torso and shoulder with five holes. The joy and thrill of it was almost too much for Haruka to handle.

"What's wrong?" she asked mockingly. "Have I hit all the nerves? Have you lost all feeling in the right side? Alright, then, let's go back to the left."

Much to Haruka's surprise, Satoko did not yell when the blade pierced the center of her left hand. She had stopped crying. Some slight light had returned weakly to her eyes. Haruka found this unpleasant.

"Are you keeping quiet because you think your screams will bring me pleasure?"

"I thought the same thing as you," Satoko spoke breathlessly. Hearing her speak in her condition shocked us into silence. Then again, it wasn't unheard of—in their last moments, some people turn out to be extremely strong. "Nii Nii disappeared because I was too much of a burden," the little girl elaborated. "It must have been painful for Nii Nii when I depended on him so much, but I didn't know how to stop myself."

"This is a bit surprising," rejoined Haruka coolly. "I wasn't expecting you to be conscious of your crime."

In her cell, Mion crawled forward again. She had heard Satoko's words and saw the surprise on my face. Perhaps she had begun to hope that Haruka might let Satoko go after all. My ignorant sister must not have realized that it was already too late. Not even the best doctors could save the little girl now.

***Satoko's Courage***

"Nii Nii will come back," Satoko stated with astounding strength. "When he comes back, I'll show him how much I've grown up. I'll show him that I don't need to hide behind him anymore."

We laughed at Satoko's near-death delusion. "Oh yeah, haha, I hope Satoshi comes back too."

"Nii Nii will definitely come back!" insisted Satoko, knowing that she was being mocked. "I'll wait patiently for him until then. When he comes back, I'll apologize to him for what I've done! Listen, I won't lose heart until that day. No matter how bad things get, I won't depend on Nii Nii. Nothing will change if I cry, so I'll stand my ground no matter what!"

This dumbfounding show of true bravery felt, to Haruka, like an annoying insect. The smile vanished from her face and she looked deadly. Haruka told the little bitch not to get cocky.

"If you want to stab me," Satoko continued, struggling to keep her voice going, "then do it as much as you want! But I won't cry. I won't! Absolutely not!"

Haruka angrily stabbed her again. Once, twice, thrice… we lost count and kept going, but Satoko was numb to the pain. She did not shout or whimper. The light in her eyes was fading, but she kept speaking in a weak voice.

"Are you watching me, Nii Nii? Your Satoko has grown to be this strong. I won't lose heart, no matter what happens to me." She shuddered as the knife continually pierced her small body. "This won't break me. This isn't enough to break me. This won't make me cry!"

The torturer decided she had had enough. It was unpleasant to see a victim turn confident at the end. Haruka shouted in rage and stabbed Satoko's throat. As she pulled the blade out of the flesh, she made sure to hit the Carotid artery. Blood spurted up and splattered against the little girl's face, as well as running down her neck and to her chest. Mion gasped, and Satoko fell silent.

Unable to speak now, Satoko lost consciousness. Her eyes rolled back. Her body stopped its anguished twitching. The little girl would never wake up. In just seconds, her heart would stop forever. Even though she had killed her prisoner painfully, taking about fifteen minutes with it, Haruka felt like she had lost. Somehow, Satoko had beaten her. Haruka grew weak, while Shion and Mari struggled to take control of us.

For a moment, I came to as Shion, and I saw Satoko's corpse. She was a deathly shade of white where she hung on the cross, body littered with slits and holes. I knew at that point that everything was my fault. I had failed to keep Haruka under control. The Demon inside me had destroyed my life and ended the lives of four others. A mad fit took over me, I heard Oyashiro's footsteps, and I felt the ghost of Satoshi watching me. Why did it feel like something was eating away at my brain? Rational thought was impossible.

"Satoshi-kun," I said hoarsely, "I was waiting for you, too. I've been waiting since we last spoke!"

My mind played back memories of my last meetings with Satoshi. The very last time we spoke was in front of the toy store, when I protected him from Oishi by giving a false alibi. That time, Satoshi hadn't said much. He seemed out of sorts. When was the last time we spoke when Satoshi was feeling like himself? Of course, I thought, it was that phone call. Satoshi asked me to take Satoko to Watanagashi while he handled an issue at work. He had also said something strange at the end…

"Mion," I remembered him saying. "…Please, protect Satoko."

Upon remembering this, I let out a bloodcurdling scream. Not only were my other personalities guilty of multiple murders—and thus I was guilty too—but we had also gone and killed Satoshi's precious little sister. Haruka hadn't known about the promise to protect Satoko. As a result, I failed to do the one and only thing Satoshi ever asked of me. If by chance Satoshi was alive, he would never want to have anything to do with me again. I was so horrified by everything, I barely noticed that I wet myself.

I felt like weeping, but… as I had always told Satoko, and as Oryo had always told me, nothing can be changed by crying. So I laughed. I laughed hysterically. The parasite had almost complete control of my mind. My throat was so itchy I could barely tolerate it. At last, at around four in the morning, I collapsed into sleep upstairs. I already knew the game was over. I no longer had a plan. I simply wanted, more than anything, to live out the violent urges that this parasite plagued me with.


	17. Atashi no Namae de Akuma

***Rena's Conclusion***

Rena and Keiichi finally concluded I might be the one behind all the recent disappearances. So, the next day, they came to call me out on it. It was about ten in the morning, which meant I managed to finally sleep for five hours or so. When I saw the cutely dressed Rena and the rather sloppy-looking Keiichi at the door, I let them in without any particular plan.

Random memories were surfacing in my head as my mind broke down. One thing I remembered was that I was actually minutes older than Mion, and was originally supposed to be the family head. Little more than toddlers, we had switched places… and we had switched names as well. I had been born as Mion, and in my current state, I couldn't tell if I was Mion or Shion or one of my other personalities.

Regardless, I kept playing Mion, the family heir who protected the traditions and religion of Hinamizawa. After we all sat at the tea table, the first thing Keiichi did was apologize to me for sneaking into the ritual tool shed. I acted furious at Keiichi for his actions, sarcastic and unforgiving.

"Mion," said Rena sternly, "Keiichi is offering the most sincere apology he can. Don't you think you could at least take it somewhat seriously?"

"I do," I answered. "What's wrong?—Do I not look serious enough?" My eyes betrayed my darkness.

"No," replied Rena, eyeing me suspiciously, "you look serious after all." She turned to Keiichi. "Saying sorry won't be enough. We'll tell her everything we know. It seems like that's all we can do."

Keiichi sat up from where he had bowed on the floor. "You called Rika and Satoko over to your house the other day," he said. "Didn't you, Mion?"

"Based on our deduction, Rika probably came over in the evening," Rena continued. "It was around dinner. She came with a big bottle of soy sauce thinking you were going to give her some." Rena produced a letter, written by my sister, offering fine Akita soy sauce to little Rika. "She came here without knowing what you had in mind. Then you…" Her voice faltered a little. "You spirited her away. It was supposed to end there. That's what you thought."

My hands began to shake and my expression lost some of its cool. So Rena was going to outsmart me after all this. Why hadn't I known she was so clever? She would have made a far better detective than the reactive, impulsive Mari.

"You didn't factor in the possibility," Rena went on, "that Rika would tell Satoko where she was going. That was a mistake. I checked the house again. Satoko had made dinner for two that night, but she left it untouched and wrapped inside the fridge. That speaks volumes about what you must have said to Satoko when she called to ask about Rika's whereabouts."

"Bravo," I said, and I laughed again to cover my fear. "That's it. I give up. You two are astounding. You found out how everything went just by looking in a refrigerator. DAMN IT!" I pulled at my hair, feeling like a rabid animal.

"Did you kill the village leader, too?" asked Rena in a low voice.

I managed to calm down. There might still be a way out if I convincingly played Mion and switched places with my sister after having her killed. And, after all, I had been born as Mion. So I seated myself as if giving a formal introduction.

"It's nice to meet you two. I am the heir to the head of the Sonozaki family. My name is Mion Sonozaki. I intend to speak openly and honestly about the events that have recently transpired. Did you know that Hinamizawa used to be called Onigafuchi, the Depths of the Demons? Our ancestors were a wise and strong race descended from Demons."

I almost had no idea what I was saying anymore. Perhaps I was only stalling.

"The people around despised our ancestors," I continued, "calling them Demons. So the people of Hinamizawa banded together. Remember those bikers who threatened you, Keiichi, by the diner? Everyone from Town Square came out in force to protect you. That tradition comes from the ancient days. If Hinamizawa could be as righteous and feared as it was in the old days, then the descendants in this town would see their dream come true. The Sonozaki family shares that dream, as well as the blood of the Demon."

"What do you mean?" asked Keiichi. "You share the blood of the Demon?"

"For each generation," I explained truthfully, "it's customary for the Sonozaki heir to have a character for Demon in their name. 魅音 reads Mei-on, or Mi-on, but the Mi character also means evil spirit. The Demon doesn't stop with just that. A Demon has also been engraved into my body as a tattoo."

"It's ok," said Rena, convinced, "you don't have to show that to Kei-chan."

Unable to stay still, I walked to the open sliding door and stood by the threshold. I gazed numbly at the woods and mountain owned by the Sonozaki family.

"Let me start by addressing the deaths of the past four years," I continued to stall. "The Sonozaki family—and thus Mion—was at the center of every one of the Mysterious Deaths."

"Mion, tell us the truth," said Rena abruptly. "Did you kill our friends Rika and Satoko?"

"Yes," I confessed, "I won't lie. This Demon is now the center of my soul."

"You must have some control over it." Rena realized something didn't add up. "Otherwise, why would Keiichi be alive? He violated the tool shrine. As a Demon, it serves you no purpose to keep him alive."

"Maybe Mion, and not the Demon, has some reason for it," I answered. I wasn't about to tell her that I was Shion and I had been trying to use Keiichi to smoke out the criminals hidden among the villagers.

"The police already suspect you," Keiichi rejoined after a brief silence. "Detective Oishi is outside right now. He's waiting for any excuse to break in here."

I sank to my knees. For a moment, I was able to speak honestly despite the Demon digging in my brain.

"There can be no excuse for what I've done," I stated tiredly. "I'm sorry. There is a Demon inside me."

I couldn't see her because my back was facing her, but I heard Rena's voice become softer. "You're going to need to turn yourself in, Mion," she said quietly. "We'll go with you so you won't get hurt. You are still our friend, no matter what you've done."

No. Their kindness was lost on me. To me, it could only be seen as condescension.

***One Last Favor***

A plan began forming in my crazed mind. If I was going to be caught anyway, I might as well destroy the last of the once great Sonozaki family and their collaborators in crime. My sister was the only person left. How could I best torment her? Then there were Keiichi and Rena, too—if given a chance, I would kill them vindictively. They had figured me out, and they had told the police all about me, so I resented them. Nevertheless, I made my voice as pleasant as possible. Even when crazed by a brain parasite, I was Shion, and she had always had a kind, feminine voice, if a little more prone to sarcasm than Mion.

"I'd like you to indulge me in one last favor," I told my visitors. "I'll do it. I'll turn myself in. But first I'd like to have some alone time with Keiichi-kun."

To my surprise, Rena and Keiichi agreed. Naturally, if we didn't return soon, Rena would call for help, but she didn't seem overly concerned since I said I would turn myself in. I walked side by side with Keiichi, on a lovely path between evergreen hedges and the stone-bordered creek. I wondered if this would be my last time taking a walk in a nice setting—soon, I would be jailed as a serial killer. When I thought about prison—and execution—I felt indescribably lonely. I longed for some physical reassurance… even the slightest touch would do. I blushed thinking of Keiichi this way, but…

"Would be alright if I held your arm?" I asked.

Keiichi stammered a confirmation. He blushed redder than me when I took his arm. We walked on.

"It seems Shion must have liked you as much Mion did," I remarked.

One word kept going through my mind, just as it had when I was a small child: Demon. Oni, Akuma, Yomu… Demon. I had gotten to a point where I could no longer tell whether I was Shion or Mion. I couldn't tell if I was Mari, Haruka, or Jun for sure either. It was probable that I was Shion because I couldn't remember murdering people as Haruka, but I had gathered the pieces when I saw Satoko's corpse. Inside me, my first instinct was to love Keiichi—to worship him for saying he would stay my friend—which also made me think I was Shion. However, there was also the Demon; in this case, the Hinamizawa Syndrome or brain parasite. Urges to attack, torment, and/or kill overrode my instinctive feelings. So I determined to kill this young man.

"Come on," I said to Keiichi. "If you want, I can show you my crimes. Be warned that they're gruesome, and there's nothing you can do about them. What's done is done."

"I don't care." Keiichi looked me right in the face with his dark eyes. "Show me whatever you want. But nothing will change the fact that Mion Sonozaki is the best friend I've ever had." He reached out his hand and patted me on the head, just like Satoshi.

This unbelievable, noble kindness would have broken me, and I would have given up my last plan, if only my brain had been functioning. As it was, I thought Keiichi was being a freak. Why would he try to act kind now? Since I was fully possessed by the Demon—the microorganisms in my head—I could no longer relate to normal people. I did have a vague idea, though, of why my sister fancied Keiichi so much. That's what inspired me to use the boy against her.

Keiichi and I walked to the outside entrance of the Underground Torture Chamber. Its existence was a family secret. We passed through the steel doors, down the steps, across the torture room, and into the Underground Dungeon. Keiichi looked around, seeing signs of blood but no bodies. When Mion saw him, she weakly called to him from her cell. I paused, waiting for the right moment.

"Shion!" exclaimed Keiichi, rushing to Mion's cell. "Is that you? I don't believe it! You're alive!"

He gasped when he saw her condition. She was severely ill from dehydration, being given only a small mug of water in the last seventy-some hours. She was stripped down to a revealing slip, her face and skin covered with dust and bruises, and her hair scraggly and greasy. Her wide, desperate eyes changed when she saw Keiichi, taking on the light of hope. A weak smile crossed her face as she said his name. She said it three times, as if trying to convince herself that the boy was real.

"NOOOO!" Mion screamed suddenly, half-deafening all three of us. She had seen me, and she instantly retreated several paces back into her cell. "NOOOOO!" she howled shrilly. "DO YOU HATE ME THIS MUCH?!"

Keiichi made the mistake of not turning around to look. His back was facing me. He was preoccupied with trying to calm Mion's hysteria. The boy reassured her that everything would be ok and that he would get her out of the cell. Meanwhile, I lifted up a stone a little bigger than a football, and of course many times as heavy. With a triumphant laugh, I bashed the stone against Keiichi's head. He fell over at once, but remained half-conscious, murmuring feverishly.

All it would take to kill him was another strike from the stone. But I, Shion Sonozaki, was still fighting the brain parasite for every inch. I was not Haruka. I would not kill Keiichi! But the urges in my brain were irresistible. To kill or not to kill? I decided to put off the problem by tying him up.

***Keiichi and the Demon***

I dragged the boy's body onto a wooden, horizontal slab. It split in two directions near the bottom to hold each of the victim's legs. Two branches reached out from higher up, too, at an angle, for the arms. Two metal bands around his ankles kept Keiichi's legs from moving. Another restraint was locked around his throat. There was one metal band for each wrist too. Finally, his fingers were each tied down by small, separate bindings. I had a reason for this set up.

"Good, you're awake," I smiled. "After I've exposed 'Shion' to the dying screams of her boyfriend, she'll be next. Isn't that genius?" I laughed again because I wanted to cry. I wanted to stop myself. I scratched at my throat.

"Who exactly are you?" demanded Keiichi, suddenly looking much more grown up with the blood from his head-wound covering nearly half his face. "You cannot possibly be Mion Sonozaki."

I paused. Did he know I was Shion? Had he figured it out? But he made himself clear momentarily.

"You are a Demon," the young man stated. "Give Mion back! I mean it. Give her back!"

I chuckled with the knowledge that I could still take one secret with me to the grave. I took a moment to enjoy Keiichi's fear, idly fidgeting with a long nail. In my other hand I held the hammer. As Keiichi demanded to have his "best friend" back, I laughed at him, half weeping. Then I set the nail against one of Keiichi's left fingers. I was going to drive it through flesh and bone alike… I should have time to pierce several of the fingers, to cause acute pain, before killing him.

"Don't give up, Mion!" cried Keiichi, hiding any obvious fear with his gallant attempt to get through to me. "Don't let this Demon win! Come on, fight it! Don't give in! You're stronger than this!"

"You're a funny one," I said, laughing outrageously. "Keep this up and I may drown in my own tears."

"Please, Mion! I beg you. Don't let this Demon take you! You can beat this! You can. So FIGHT!"

"Keiichi-kun," I said, escaping the involuntary hysteria for a moment, "since you're so interested, I'll tell you a secret. You see, some form of Demon has been living in my body for quite some time." This time I was referring to Haruka more than the unknown brain parasite. "Until now I've always controlled it by reasoning with it. It had been a long time since the Demon stirred…"

I recalled a memory from earlier that summer. Mion had come over and talked about Keiichi a lot. I could tell she truly liked the boy because she incessantly worried about what he might think. She told me about how Keiichi won a porcelain doll in a game tournament. Instead of offering it to Mion, he gave the doll to Rena, who obviously seemed like more of a girl than Mion.

How happy my sister must be to have a boy to worry over, I had thought. Yet, I envied Mion for having this normal, silly young romance. As for me, those days were over. I remembered telling myself that I mustn't resent my only sister. But she kept making me think of Satoshi. She unintentionally paraded her privilege in front of me. Mion told me her feelings, and as she spoke, I started to remember my own feelings for Satoshi. At that point, I had wondered if the Demon inside me would reawaken.

"The Demon is, in fact, still there," I said to Keiichi, while a tear fell from my eye. "All it needed was something to wake it up again. The incident that started it was actually rather innocent. You screwed everything up, Keiichi-kun. All you had to do was give that doll to Mion instead, and maybe we wouldn't be where we are now. That's not the path you chose, however."

"But—but—I didn't know," said Keiichi.

His eyes, black with a highlight of deep blue, welled up with tears. The causative emotions were sympathy for me and his own guilt, rather than pain and fear. I prepared to drive the first nail in, but seeing his honest tears, part of me started fighting again. I was hesitating to torture Keiichi much more than I had hesitated with the others. That was because I was Shion, not Haruka, and I was still trying to fight the commands my brain was issuing. But it felt impossible. Shakily, I put the nail into position.

"If torturing me will appease the Demon inside you," Keiichi sighed, "then hammer away."

"Are you serious?" I asked, still hesitating to drive the nail through his finger.

"Yes, go ahead. Compared to the pain Mion must have gone through, this isn't anything, is it? You just have to promise me two things." His voice grew bolder. "First, forgive Shion. Secondly, I want you to leave that body and give it back to Mion forever."

"I don't believe it." I pulled the hammer away, still battling with myself. "With all that I could—and probably will—do to you, those are your only requests? You don't even ask me to spare your life?"

Keiichi actually smiled, though it looked pained. "Alright then, there's a third thing. Please don't kill me."

"You asked for two requests," I said, leaning close over him. "Don't get greedy. Then again, I'm a Demon. The chances I'll keep those two promises are pretty slim." I touched his face, half because Shion was desperately trying to reach him, and half because the Demon wanted to terrorize him. "About that third request, though," I told him; "I don't think I'll mind keeping that."

Of course Keiichi didn't understand. Why should I keep him alive? I couldn't simply torture him forever, since I thought Rena would be bringing along help soon. Certainly, the small part of me still struggling for sanity wanted to keep Keiichi alive. But the real reason I wouldn't kill Keiichi was because there was something more important I had to do before the police got here. I needed to trade places with my sister again. I couldn't waste any more time.

"I won't give up on Mion!" cried Keiichi, recovering from the chill of having my killer's hands caress him.

I heard the sounds of someone beating on the steel doors. "Do you hear that?" I asked. "I bet it's Detective Oishi." Abruptly, I bent over, put my face next to Keiichi's ear, and whispered. I whispered in perfect sincerity. "Listen. I am sorry for defiling Mion."

"Do what you want," snapped the boy. "But I will always remember the Mion who was my friend."

"You need to forget about Mion and Shion," I warned him. "If you ever see either of us again, the last thing you should do is approach us. The only thing left alive in me by then will be this madness… this Demon."

I took out my Taser and stunned Keiichi with a high voltage.


	18. Danzai: Condemnation

**Author's Note: This chapter deviates from the anime at one crucial point. In the anime, Shion makes a certain mistake entirely by accident. Here, she chooses the "mistake" herself. It turns out that this is very similar to what happens in the manga, and I think it fits Shion's character better.**

***The Fate of Mion Sonozaki***

I left Keiichi tied to the wooden slab and prepared to attend to my most important business. When I apologized for defiling Mion, I meant it, because I was finally going to deal with my sister, "Mion." She could not be allowed to survive if I wanted any chance of getting out of this. I reverted to Haruka, or I wouldn't have been able to do it. When we approached, Mion was shaking in panic.

"Come on out," Haruka said, opening the cell door. "I only stunned Keiichi-kun, by the way. Listen, the police will be here in just minutes."

"Thanks a lot, _Onee_ ," Mion replied in a trembling voice. She actually thought we were being merciful.

"You and I aren't finished yet," Haruka said to disillusion her. "I still need to escape."

As Haruka untied the teal obi, the kimono started slipping off, revealing her shoulders and cleavage. She ordered Mion to take off her things too. My sister was too frightened to do anything but obey. Haruka changed into Mion's dirty slip and waited by the edge of the corpse well. As soon as Mion joined her by the edge, dressed in the kimono, Haruka rested the Taser threateningly against her sister's back.

"I want you to go down there," she grinned, "and apologize to Satoshi-kun."

"Shion!" gasped Mion in terror. "There's no point in me climbing down there. I won't see Satoshi…"

"What do you mean?" Haruka asked facetiously. "You told me yourself that his corpse was thrown down there."

"I was wrong," said Mion desperately. "You asked if he was in the well. I said I thought he might be, because that's the only place I could think where the body wouldn't be found. But look, the Sonozaki family _can't_ be involved in this, so they wouldn't use the well."

As if it mattered now, Haruka thought. She still needed to escape. However, she met with resistance from Shion and Mari. They wanted to know the truth about Satoshi. The three of us battled for control of our body. In the meantime, our head felt on fire, and we were overcome with the urge to kill. It was Mari who won out. She realized we were about to kill our sister and she believed she was strong enough to stop it. She didn't consider that she could be almost as cruel as Haruka when her "righteous anger" took over.

"Our family is innocent," Mion continued. "I should have tried harder to tell you, but you wouldn't listen to anyone! I really liked Satoshi too, so I confronted Grandma about it. I was even prepared to kill her with my own hands if she harmed him! But then… she told me that the Sonozaki family has nothing to do with the Curse! It's a coincidence. That's why Oishi can never get anywhere with his investigation."

"You liar," Mari hissed. She was unable to accept this reasoning so late in the game.

"I think Grandma was telling the truth, Shion!" my sister pleaded. "I could tell by looking at her! And besides, she had already blessed your relationship with Satoshi after you removed your nails. She said she learned from the experience of rejecting her daughter's relationship. Grandma told everyone at the committee that it was ok for you to be with a Hojo."

"Liar," Mari said again. "If Oryo didn't kill Satoshi, then who did?"

"I have no idea…" Mion's voice was subdued.

"You're lying!" Mari insisted. "Look at what each of these deaths have in common! The dam worker, the Hojo couple, Priest Furude and his wife, and Satoshi with his aunt! And as for Tomitake and Takano, you said they incited Oyashiro's wrath! Everyone was marked by the Sonozaki family!"

"I know, it's weird," admitted Mion, still sounding frantic. "Grandma thought it was strange too. But when she asked, everyone denied involvement! It's not as simple as you think, Shion. Everyone has already denied being involved."

"No!" growled Mari. "If what you're saying is true, I've been killing innocent people for no reason!"

This took a second to sink in. A wave of absolute dread washed over Mari. Just like my other personalities, though, she laughed to hide it.

"You're really clever," she addressed Mion again. "You thought you could get me with a little reverse psychology. Good try."

"Please believe me, Shion," begged Mion. "I am not the one who made you this way."

"Shut up!" Mari bit back, and her brain was taken by the Syndrome. "If you're innocent, then you'll be fine. I hear Heaven is a nice place. Say hello to Satoshi-kun!"

We used the Taser against Mion's spine. Her body teetered for a moment and then fell into the depths of the corpse well. It wasn't just Haruka who was a murderer now. The brain parasite had persuaded Mari into siblicide. That was when the personality known as Mari "died."

Jun's will had crumbled after accepting that Satoshi had been dumped in the well, and she had never taken control of my mind since. Sweetness was her forte, but she died easily because of that sensitivity. Mari's reason for existence had been her ideals of justice, but now she was the worst kind of evil. She could no longer exist. She could not allow herself to exist. The only ones left were Shion and Haruka, and both were being influenced by the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

As Shion, I threw my Taser into the well, and dropped down to my knees. The memories of the last few minutes were lost to me. Since I was dressed in Mion's slip, I could only think that one of my personalities had either let her go or killed her. I remembered, after all, that Haruka had killed four people. I noticed the absence of Mari, too. So I figured that I had killed Mion.

This meant that my plan for escape would work—everyone would blame Mion for the killings, while I would look like her helpless prisoner. Was it really worth it to escape at the cost of my sister's life? I didn't think so, but the parasite inside me certainly did. It was the only thing keeping me from killing myself. I passed out in the cell, hearing the sounds of sirens.

***Haunted***

Ever since I woke up, and was returned without suspicion to my apartment, I have been writing the chronicles of my madness. I did my best to fill in the missing memories by talking to other people and by having Haruka write the descriptions of her abhorrent acts. I, Shion Sonozaki, have been writing to try to keep my mind together. It isn't working.

Every day, things get worse. My throat is so itchy I can't help scratching at my neck, my head burns, and I am nearly always having violent urges. The paranoia has gone beyond anything remotely justifiable. I can't leave my apartment because I'm afraid someone will find out what I've done. I'm also horribly afraid I will kill someone else. I feel like Keiichi must know the truth—he must know that I'm Shion, that I'm the killer. So I keep dreaming of killing him next.

Then there are the hallucinations, assuming that's what they are—I can't tell what's real. I still sense someone watching me, and almost constantly hear those shuffling footsteps. I don't hear the voice of Satoshi, but I hear other voices. The dead—Kimiyoshi, Oryo, Satoko, Rika, Mion—they all shout at me, telling me to die. I think their ghosts are trying to kill me. The living—Rena, Keiichi, Oishi, Kasai—they say they know what I am, and that they can never forgive me.

I can no longer tolerate this madness. I leave this chronical in the hopes that it will shed light on the many mysteries I encountered. I will never understand Rika's part in this, unless Oyashiro really does exist and did speak to her; but that's the least of my concerns. I hope that someday, someone can find Satoshi. His body was not found when Oishi and his team dragged all the corpses from the well.

There's another mystery I hope my information can help solve. Miss Takano leant me some of her research scrapbooks, and they were filled with nonsensical explanations of the town's bizarre deaths. As absurd as it might seem, though, I could believe _one_ of the notebooks: the one that included the idea of Hinamizawa Syndrome, which exists as a brain parasite. If such a thing exists, it's odd that Takano would know about it—perhaps she was killed for having that knowledge. Perhaps she passed me her notebook in the hope that someone else would continue her research.

Consider Hinamizawa Syndrome a disease with early stages marked by paranoia and auditory hallucinations. As the disease progresses, uncontrollable urges of violence join the paranoia and the strong beliefs in conspiracy theories (such as my belief that the Sonozaki family was full of killers). The disease only hits those who come and go from Hinamizawa. That's why I got it so readily. Rena's psychotic experiences started when she transferred away, but the symptoms disappeared when she returned to living in Hinamizawa. Tomitake came and went from Hinamizawa too, and he had the bizarre death of scratching out his throat. That may be the final stage of the disease.

Before I leave off, I have a note for anyone who reads this. Apologizing would be useless after all I've done. Trying to sound like I had fair excuses for my sins is also pointless. But it may not be meaningless to leave you with this piece of advice. If there is a Demon living in you, too, you must try to control it as long as you can. The only way to do that is trust your friends and lay down your own ideas of what's right. If you've gotten to the point where the Demon has hurt or killed your friends, then I believe the only thing to do is end yourself and thus put a stop to the Demon. That is the only justice left for me. Before I can find and kill Keiichi, my only hope is that I will be strong enough to kill my Demon.

***The Last Act of Shion Sonozaki***

Shion's hopes of leaving Keiichi alone were not fulfilled. The young lady of tragedy found herself driven to leave the apartment as the madness overtook her again. As she finished writing, Shion began to hear the voices of the ghosts again. The voice of her sister told her to die.

"After all what you've done, do you still intend to live?" the voice demanded harshly. "YOU DESERVE TO DIE!"

The ghost seemed real to Shion. Mion's strong hands reached through the wall to grab her throat—Shion could almost see them visibly. She could certainly _feel_ them, and when she did, she screeched in terror. Throwing herself to the floor, Shion escaped the perceived "ghost," but it continued yelling for her death. Now it seemed to be beating on the door, trying to get in. This was it, thought Shion; if she didn't do something now, the vengeful ghosts would surely find her.

Shion exited the apartment via the balcony door. From there, she grabbed onto the balcony wall's edge and lowered herself down onto the stairs below. Feeling triumphant, and not having left the apartment for days, Shion took off at a run. She descended the stairs like a rabbit with a weasel hot on its trail.

"Ha!" the teenager laughed. "You all will never catch me!"

Without any clear plan, Shion jumped onto her bike and started pedaling. She then realized that a knife was slung through her belt, hidden by the jacket tied around her waist. When had she put that there? It must have been Haruka's doing. It was certainly Haruka who drove Shion to head for the Okinomiya General Hospital. That was where Keiichi was staying. He had seemingly recovered, but was under observation for a few days because of his concussion.

Shion knew exactly what room Keiichi stayed in because they had temporarily been just across the hall from each other. In their divided mind, Shion and Haruka were battling fiercely: the latter wanted to kill Keiichi, and the former wanted to confess to Keiichi with the hope that he would kill her in anger. She—or they—threw a few stones up at Keiichi's window on the second floor. It wasn't too late at night, so he might still be awake. If he slept lightly, the sharp pang on the window might wake him up.

Sure enough, young Keiichi heard the sounds. He looked out the window and saw the teenage girl waiting for him outside. It was a little odd that Shion was still wearing one of Mion's outfits, he thought, but that only made him more curious. He asked a nurse to let him get some air. She agreed, adding that someone would come and get him if he didn't return in ten minutes.

"Hey, I haven't seen you in a while," Shion began with a nervous laugh. "How are you?"

"Um…why are you wandering out here instead of coming in?" Keiichi sensed something was off. "Why did you come to visit me at night?"

Shion could feel Haruka trying to take control of her again. "I… can't be here anymore," she said, unable to look her last friend in the eye.

"Hey now," said Keiichi, looking concerned, "are you sure you're ok?"

Shion's voice was low and breathless. "I tried really hard for the past few days… I've been in my room just writing… But… I can't take anymore."

The diseased girl suddenly snapped. It was difficult to tell if she was laughing uproariously or crying like a small child. Keiichi lost his sense of caution, anxious for his friend. As he stepped forward, asking Shion what was wrong, he suddenly felt cold steel driven into his body. Haruka had won. She had whipped out Shion's knife and stabbed Keiichi. He fell onto his knees, so shocked that he didn't even shout.

Haruka did not pull the knife out, nor did she try to stab Keiichi a second time. That would end up saving his life. The demented girl had no idea that Keiichi would survive the stab wound and live to tell the tale. He would stay with Rena, and the two of them would die as best friends fighting side by side to escape the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. As it was, though, Haruka was too excited by the thrill of victory to care about the details. She laughed. And, completely out of character, she began to scream at the night sky.

"I made it just in time!" she howled. "I did it! All of it! Praise me, Satoshi-kun! EEYAAAAAH!"

After that, the girl rode speedily back to her apartment. Her mind switched states between Shion and Haruka rapidly. But, realizing what her alter had done to Keiichi, Shion made a final, bold decision. She took control of her body and ascended the stairs. She didn't pause until she was hanging by both arms from her balcony.

"If only I had never been born," she whispered into the night as she climbed. "So many lives would have been saved, and so much pain would have been spared, if only I had never existed. Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe I'll wake up to find I was in a coma, and Satoshi-kun will be caring for me. I know I don't deserve such an outcome. But... it's ok to go out imagining it, right?"

Let it be said that Shion could climb excellently. She had been an active member of the rock climbing club in St. Lucia's Girls' Academy. In addition, she had escaped the Academy by climbing up a tree and over the wall. If she so desired, Shion could climb to the top story of the apartment without a problem. That wasn't what she decided to do.

Shion decided to let go. If she had lived defiantly, then she would die defiantly too: defying Haruka and the Hinamizawa Syndrome. She made sure justice was fulfilled. She plummeted down several stories, and just before hitting the concrete and shattering her skull, she looked up at the moon. It seemed to Shion that the face of Satoshi appeared there. He was smiling at her with his sharp eyes sparkling and his golden hair glowing.

"Satoshi-kun," Shion thought as her life flashed before her eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't protect our promise. I'm sorry, everyone. I'm so sorry. If I get another chance, I won't ever make the same mistakes again."

When her head hit the ground, she died instantly.

The End


End file.
